


Love At No Sight

by gaygentdanvers



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baker!Maggie, Blind!Alex, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2018-12-18 16:30:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11878401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaygentdanvers/pseuds/gaygentdanvers
Summary: She had been up since five this morning, having made a habit a while ago of coming in early to finish custom orders, and the last thing she had expected was to be surprised by a drenched redhead - a veryattractivedrenched redhead, she might add - rushing inside her bakery with a golden retriever.





	1. Chapter 1

 

> _And I’m just beginning to learn_
> 
> _the difference between fists_
> 
> _against drywall_
> 
> _screaming, “Let me out,”_
> 
> _and sore knuckles on mahogany_
> 
> _saying, “Let me in.”_

  
  
Kara’s voice shrieking throughout her apartment is the first thing Alex hears when she wakes up, which, really, should be unsurprising considering all the mornings she's thought of Kara to be her own personal alarm clock. Blinking hard against the tiredness of her eyes, she rubs her face and tries to process what her sister is shrieking about. “-oh my Rao, Alex, it’s really happening. I’m getting married in _five_   _months_ , that’s- that’s a thing that’s actually going to happen-”  
  
“Kara-”  
  
“-what if something happens at the wedding? What if I have to run off as Supergirl during the reception? I mean-”  
  
“Kara,” Alex tries again, louder this time, sitting up against her pillows as she listens to the heavy footsteps pacing anxiously in front of her. She vaguely catches Gertrude letting out a whine at the edge of the bed before the retriever’s wet nose nudges against her hand. She strokes her head softly as Kara continues, still not having heard her name being called through her panic.  
  
“-it’s all so stressful! Alex, I’m just so _nervous-_ ”  
  
_“Kara!”_  
  
Her sister’s footsteps come to a halt at the foot of her bed, her next words seemingly dying on her tongue. Alex shakes her head, a semi-amused smirk on her face. “Everyone gets nervous while planning their wedding."   
  
Kara lets out a frustrated groan and her next few words come out slightly muffled, so Alex guesses she has her head in her hands. “It’s different when you're Supergirl. What if Lena ends up regretting marrying me because of who I have to be, who I am?”  
  
Alex frowns deeply at that. Did Kara really think that? “Come sit,” she says seriously, patting the spot on the bed next to her. The mattress dips as Kara takes a seat on the edge of the mattress, and Alex reaches for her with the hand not petting Gertrude, flashing an affectionate smile when Kara automatically interlaces their fingers together. “Kara. Lena will never regret marrying you because of who you are wearing that cape. You're her hero, remember? There’s a reason she proposed in the first place.”  
  
“Yeah?” Kara asks insecurely.  
  
“Yeah,” Alex confirms, but hearing the solemness still present in her sister’s voice, she gets an idea. “Why don't you get Gertrude’s leash for me while I get dressed, we can grab breakfast. Gertrude needs a walk anyways,” she suggests, trying hard not to laugh when Kara squeals, flying to the closet door and landing back on the bed before she can even blink.  
  
It’s only after she’s thrown on her sweater and felt her watch that she scowls, spinning around to where Gertrude  _and_ Kara are waiting eagerly for their walk. Gertrude’s nails click loudly on the wood as the dog paces impatiently in front of the door while Kara coos at her. “You woke me up at six in the morning to ramble about Lena?” Alex demands with a raised eyebrow, only half-annoyed. She would’ve gotten up on her own in another hour or so anyways, but that doesn’t mean she’s gonna let her sister get away so easily.  
  
Kara inhales sharply. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice."  
  
“I might forgive you if you pay for my coffee,” Alex offers teasingly, to which Kara eagerly agrees, giving her Gertrude’s leash before offering her arm to grab. Alex makes sure to grab Gertrude's harness as well, in case Kara has to leave her on her own to fly off to save the city again. By the time they're pushing through the front doors of her apartment building, she feels the pre-rain humidity in the air outside even before Kara comments on it. If there’s one thing that could be considered a harbinger of bad luck for Alex, it’s rain - not that everything bad has happened to her _because_ it was raining, just that everything bad has happened to her _while_ it was raining.  
  
“I’m sure we’ll make it there before it starts,” Kara reassures her immediately, and Alex only forces a grateful smile to her sister as they step out from under the awning and make their way to Noonan's.  
  
One of the various reasons why Alex enjoys Noonan's the most is the peacefulness of the place - it’s fairly popular, but unlike many other restaurants in National City, it’s not typically flooded with noisy customers and overwhelmed employees, and the few waitresses that Alex has occasionally spoken to adore Gertrude each time she brings her along. Today, however, she chooses to wait underneath the canopy outside with Gertrude while Kara picks up their orders. She almost lets herself believe that she’ll be able to enjoy a nice, uninterrupted coffee date with her sister before the woman in question returns to Alex with a whine and a sympathetic, “Alex, I’m so sorry. Snapper just called…”  
  
She trails off, but Alex already knows what it means. “You have to go?” she asks, not unkindly but still letting her disappointment show. Kara sighs.  
  
“It’s Snapper, Alex,” she says, as if that explains everything - which it does, in a way, because even Alex knows by now that if you disobey an order from him once, you’ll no longer have a job. She’s quickly come to despise Kara’s new editor, not only because he insists for her sister to praise the ground he walks on but also because he steals her away from Alex even more than her superhero duties do. “I’m so sorry,” Kara repeats. “I got your coffee. Do you want me to call Lucy and see if she can pick you up? I know how much you hate walking in the rain.”  
  
Alex brushes her off. “I’ll be fine, I promise. I have Gertrude. Now go,” she says sternly. “I don’t want you getting fired because of that asshole.”  
  
“We’ll make up for it tomorrow,” Kara promises, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before taking off in the direction of CatCo.  
  
Alex only shakes her head, taking a sip of her coffee. “Guess it’s just you and me, huh?” she asks Gertrude, receiving an affectionate lick on her hand in response. She smiles, unclipping her leash and slipping on the harness instead. “Okay, girl. Take me home.”  
  
Unfortunately for her, it starts sprinkling right after Kara leaves her in front of Noonan’s, but it’s downright pouring before she’s able to reach within a block of her apartment, and although she would never admit this aloud, she grows increasingly nervous and frustrated the longer it persists - it’s always more difficult to hear what’s going on around her through the pounding of the rain and the loud winds that accompany it, setting her on edge. Eventually, after ten minutes of stubbornly attempting to reach her apartment in spite of the rain, Alex gives up, deciding to hide out in one of the nearby shops until it ceases.  
  
She faintly picks up the music coming from inside one of the buildings as Gertrude stops in front of it. The door opens with a loud bell, and Alex can’t keep the relieved sigh from escaping her lips as the warmth of the room envelopes her, but the spell is broken when a voice pipes up from the back.  
  
“Whoa, hey, you’re not allowed to have any dogs in here.”  
  
The voice is distracting, to say the least - a woman's, teetering on the line between smooth and rough, filling the whole room - but Alex immediately stiffens at her words, raising an eyebrow at the woman's _duh_ tone, speaking to her as if she should've realized that already. “Uh- I kind of need her,” she replies warily, wondering if the owner of the voice simply doesn’t realize she’s blind or if she’s one of _those_ people; she’s had more run-ins with managers refusing to let Gertrude into their store than she would prefer, despite the National City laws stating it’s prohibited to do so. “She’s a guide dog,” Alex clarifies when she’s met with silence.  
  
“Oh! My bad then, I didn’t-”  
  
“It’s fine,” Alex cuts her off, dismissing the apology with a brief wave of her hand; over the past fourteen years she’s gotten used to the apologies. She hesitates then, shifting slightly as she catches the scent of cinnamon and something else sweet nearby. “Where am I?” she asks, trying to confirm her suspicions.  
  
“A bakery. We’re actually closed, I don’t open until nine.”  
  
“A bakery,” Alex repeats quietly. _Since when has there been a bakery here?_ she wonders, before processing what else the woman had said. “Oh... I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were closed. I can’t exactly see the sign out front.”  
  
“Right,” the woman says, sounding slightly uncomfortable.  
  
Alex makes a face, wondering if she should just leave and suffer the awful trek home with Gertrude through the heavy rain. “I was trying to escape the downpour,” she explains. “Is this okay? I can go-”  
  
“No, stay!” she's interrupted a little too sharply, the voice suddenly a lot closer than it was a moment ago. Alex blinks. “Sawyer- Maggie Sawyer," the baker introduces herself.  
  
“Alex Danvers,” she responds, reaching her hand out in the direction she hopes Maggie's standing. She tries hard to ignore the shiver when Maggie’s hand touches hers, blaming it on the lingering chill of getting caught in the rain. She quickly releases her hand and feels around for a seat; when she finds one, she’s thankful when her butt hits a soft leather cushion instead of cold metal. “Sit,” she tells Gertrude.  
  
Maggie clears her throat. “Can I get you anything? A towel? You’re, well, soaking wet, and not in a good way.”  
  
It’s moments like these where Alex is extremely grateful that she can’t see the expressions on other people’s faces as she sputters, heat rising to her cheeks once she takes in what Maggie just said. “Um- a towel would be great,” she finally manages to choke out, hoping her blush isn’t as noticeable as she thinks - but unfortunately. if Maggie’s chuckling is of any indication, it is.  
  
“Sorry, was that too forward?” she questions, at least having the decency to sound ashamed. Alex only laughs nervously in response, and she listens to Maggie’s footsteps as they retreat to the back to grab the towel. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, as if she’s intruding - which, really, she kind of is - Alex reaches for Gertrude, instantly growing bit calmer as her dog’s wet head pushes up into the palm of her hand. When Maggie returns, Alex nods in thanks and moves to dry Gertrude first. “Is it alright if I take off her harness? She won’t go crazy, I promise. I just want her to relax.”  
  
She senses the slight hesitance and almost takes back the question when Maggie answers, “Yeah, that’s… It’s only me in here for now, so I guess it’s fine. Do you want something to eat? On the house,” she adds quickly, probably seeing Alex about to refuse the offer. “There’s some peanut butter cupcakes behind the counter too for your dog, if that’s okay?”  
  
Alex moves from drying Gertrude to drying herself after removing the harness, hoping she doesn’t look as bad as she suspects she does, with her wet hair matted to her face and her sweater clinging uncomfortably to her body. “I bet she'd love a treat, wouldn’t you, Gertrude?” she asks, scratching under the retriever’s chin. Above her, she hears Maggie let out a small laugh at the exchange, and blushes again.  
  
“One peanut butter cupcake coming right up then,” Maggie declares. She hears the crinkling of a wrapper and then a glass case is shut, right before Maggie’s footsteps walk back to her table. Alex smiles at the way Gertrude inhales the treat from her hand when she feeds her; so often she reminds her of Kara, before she remembers that her sister can eat ten times more than Gertrude can.  
  
She can feel Maggie's eyes on her, watching her as she brushes the crumbs from her hands and scratches behind Gertrude's ear lovingly. "Well, Danvers," the baker finally says, breaking the silence that had settled over them momentarily. "Um- make yourself at home, I'll be in the back if you need anything."   
  
Alex only nods as the baker hurries back to the kitchen, leaving her sitting alone and trying to deny the fact that she already finds herself missing the company.   
  
  
  
**◊**  
  
  
  
Maggie can’t concentrate.  
  
She lets out another frustrated groan as she pulls out her second batch of burnt muffins, dropping the tray onto the flour-covered table and yanking off her oven mitts. Glancing back at the door for the umpteenth time in twenty minutes, she resists to urge to peek out and check on the stranger sitting in the corner, waiting out the storm. She had been up since five this morning, having made a habit a while ago of coming in early to finish custom orders, and the last thing she had expected was to be surprised by a drenched redhead - a very _attractive_ drenched redhead, she might add - rushing inside her bakery with a golden retriever.  
  
Thinking back to her first words to the stranger - Alex, she knows now - Maggie immediately flushes with embarrassment, not yet able to accept that she had told an actual  _blind_ woman she couldn’t bring her dog inside with her. Granted, she hadn’t noticed the _Guide Dog_ label on the retriever’s harness until Alex had mentioned it, but that didn’t make it any less mortifying.  
  
Shaking her head, Maggie forces herself to focus, already preparing the ingredients to make another tray of muffins and thanking no one in particular that she doesn’t have a deadline for them. She’s beating the butter and sugar together when she hears the bell chime again as the door is opened, and before she can wonder if Alex is leaving, she hears a familiar high-pitched voice booming through the bakery. “Maggie! I’m actually here early for- oh! Hey there, I’m, uh- I’m Winn.”  
  
Maggie rolls her eyes, dropping her whisk into the bowl and pushing the back door open. “Schott,” she scolds, brushing her hands on her apron and examining Alex’s face carefully - upon seeing her furrowed eyebrows, clenched jaw, and tight grip on the edge of the table, she can tell the other woman is uncomfortable with the sudden newcomer. _Okay_ , she notes, _she doesn't like new people_. “Schott,” she warns again, turning her attention to her slightly confused coworker. “That’s Alex. Don’t bother her.”  
  
“Right,” Winn says, scratching the back of his neck. “Um- so wait, who is she? And what, uh, what’s with the dog?”   
  
Of course, Alex chooses that moment to join in, tapping her fingers against the table. “Hey! Winn, is it?” she asks. Winn nods in reply, and Maggie pinches the bridge of her nose, shaking her head in exasperation at him. “I’m blind, Winn, not deaf. I can hear everything you’re saying, you don't need to ask Maggie.”  
  
There’s a pause as Winn processes her words. Maggie glances between them, hoping she won’t need to find another cake decorator before the day is over due to her current one being punched in the face. “Oh,” is all he says, staring at Alex with wide eyes. “I am- I am _extremely_ sorry, I don’t- you’re not- I have decided I am going to quit talking now. It was nice meeting you, Alex!” he calls, before all but sprinting into the back, the door swinging quickly behind him.  
  
Maggie tries to ignore the slight stutter of her heart when she turns back around to find Alex smirking bemusedly. “You think I scared him?” she asks, her smirk turning into a full on grin when Maggie laughs loudly against her own accord.  
  
“Wait, you weren’t really annoyed?”   
  
Alex turns her head in her direction, and for a second Maggie feels like she’s staring right at her before she realizes Alex can’t actually see her. “Oh, I was,” she confirms. Maggie notices her tugging at her sweater sleeves, pulling the cloth over her hands. “There’s always people who speak about me instead of to me, as if I can't answer them just because I'm blind.”  
  
In a sense, Maggie can relate - growing up in Blue Springs, it was always people talking about her as if she wasn’t there, rather than approaching her directly about the things they were saying. “I bet,” she says. “Winn is our cake decorator. He can be oblivious without meaning to be, but overall he means well.”  
  
At that, Alex seems to perk up, raising her eyebrows. “You make cakes,” she states, as if it’s the first time she’s really thought about it, despite the fact that she's currently sitting in a bakery. “I mean- of course you do, you’re a baker, but- Do you make wedding cakes?”  
  
For some unknown reason, Maggie feels her heart leap into her throat at Alex’s question. _Is she getting married?_ she wonders briefly, before glancing down at her interlaced hands and seeing that she has no engagement ring on her finger. Quickly, she reminds herself that even if she _was_ getting married, it wouldn’t matter to Maggie at all, because she barely knows the woman and just because she finds her attractive doesn’t mean she’s suddenly going to get down on one knee for her.  
  
It’s then that she realizes she hasn’t yet answered the question. She clears her throat, ignoring Alex’s look of confusion as she responds with, “Occasionally, yes, we do.”  
  
If it’s even possible, Alex perks up even more. At her feet, Gertrude yawns. “My sister’s getting married in five months, would you be able to make one for them? She and Lena have been trying to find a good baker for weeks.”  
  
Maggie opens her mouth to respond when Winn suddenly appears beside her, making her jump. “Lena? As in Lena Luthor? Billionaire CEO of L-Corp, Lena Luthor?” he asks incredulously, and Maggie vaguely wonders how he got all that from just a first name.  
  
Alex stills for a moment. “Well I can tell you’re a fan.”  
  
If Maggie had been drinking water, she would’ve spit it out. “Your sister is marrying a billionaire?” she asks, her tone now matching Winn’s.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“And you want me to bake a cake… for your sister and a _billionaire_ _?"_  
  
“Yes?”  
  
Maggie exchanges a look with Winn, seeing both the shock and disbelief in his expression, before turning back to Alex’s expectant one. "Danvers, you'd have to be insane to think I'd ever say no to that."   
  
  
  
If Maggie had already been distracted even _before_ learning there was a very real possibility she’d get the chance to bake a wedding cake for Lena Luthor, now she was practically floating among the stars, never to be seen focusing again.   
  
“Maggie… Maggie!” Winn calls, snapping his fingers in front of her face. “Still thinking about _Alex?”_ he questions, wriggling his eyebrows at her and just barely dodging the cookie cutter flying towards his face. After giving them her own contact information and then texting her sister, Kara - which Winn had thought was super cool, seeing her phone work while on VoiceOver mode - the rain had stopped, and she had gratefully accepted the box of sample cupcakes Maggie offered her before slipping Gertrude’s harness back on and bidding them both a goodbye.  
  
“No, I’m not thinking about Alex,” she snaps, glaring at Winn from across the kitchen. She shoves her  _finally_ perfected tray of muffins into his arms and points at the door. “If you’re not going to decorate any cakes, at least put those in the display.”  
  
She ignores Winn’s mock salute and, “ay, ay, captain,” choosing instead to focus on her cookie dough. It’s not long, however, until the redhead finds her way into her mind once again, and Maggie sighs. What is it about the woman that makes her so hard to stop thinking about?  
  
  
  
**◊**  
  
  
  
When Alex finally gets back to her apartment, slipping off her shoes and setting aside the box of cupcakes on the counter, she thinks back to the intriguing baker with the distracting voice and briefly wonders if _maybe_  the rain doesn't only ever bring her bad luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it so far!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of Sanvers in this one, sorry guys! This chapter is shorter than the first one, but I promise they are probably going to get longer once I finally find my groove.

“How did you meet her again?” Kara asks between bites of her fourth cupcake. Alex shakes her head at her delighted moans, knowing full well that even if Kara had the chance to eat the whole box, she would still have yet to be completely satisfied. She had brought over the cupcakes Maggie had given her earlier that day to their apartment, in order to help decide if they liked her baking enough to schedule a meeting.  
  
“I was trying to avoid the rain,” Alex explains, taking a bite of her own cupcake - she has to admit that they _are_ pretty delicious, much better than she had expected.  
  
“And you say her shop is just around the block?” Lena calls from the living room.    
  
Alex hums in affirmation just as Kara lets out another moan. “Alex, _why_ did you not find this place sooner?” she demands, her words slightly muffled by the cake in her mouth.  
  
“It never caught my eye."  
  
She receives a light scold for that, but she only smirks. “So are you going to meet her?”  
  
She can practically feel Kara’s incredulous stare at the implication that she might _not_ meet her. “Alex, of course!” she nearly shouts. “I mean if her wedding cakes are as good as these cupcakes, she’s definitely doing got the job.”  
  
“Does this Maggie understand that she’s going to be baking a cake for an alien with an endless stomach?” Lena points out jokingly, coming to join them in the kitchen. Alex turns towards her, her expression giving away that she did not, in fact, reveal that specific piece of information. She hears Kara gasp in offense and a hand lightly hit Lena in the stomach.  
  
“I am _not_ that bad, guys,” she argues, right before Alex hears the slow, sneaky opening of the plastic box as she attempts to grab _another_ cupcake - this one being her fifth.  
  
“No more!” she and Lena chastise her at the same time, and the box closes again, but not before she lets out a dejected whine at the reprimand.  
  
She brings Maggie up again out of nowhere a little while later, when they’re all sitting in her living room after dinner. She and Lena are watching a movie while Alex stays curled up in a chair at the other end of the room, one of the only braille books she was able to find on the evolution of molecular biology in her lap, and Kara suddenly pauses the TV. “Is she cute?”  
  
Alex lifts her head and frowns, her fingers momentarily ceasing their movements on the page. “Who?”  
  
“Maggie. Is she cute?” she repeats, as if that suddenly clears everything up.  
  
Alex blinks. “Kara, how would I know?”  
  
“You can think someone’s cute without seeing their face, Alex,” she scolds before turning to her fiance and adding quietly, “Can you believe her?”  
  
Alex still catches it though, and she grins when she hears Kara yelp in surprise, meaning her superhero sister wasn’t fast enough to duck from the pillow she threw at her. “I don’t know,” she shrugs, flipping a page in her book. “I didn’t exactly ask her what she looked like.”  
  
For a moment there’s silence, and she lets herself believe that she can go back to reading in peace, until: “Well if you’re going to marry her, you need to be attracted to her in _some_ way.”  
  
This time it’s Lena that speaks up, amused. “Darling, what are you talking about?”  
  
Kara only huffs at her fiance, her hand reaching over the coffee table to grasp Alex’s wrist. “With her baking skills? We can’t let this one go, Alex!” she exclaims.  
  
Alex carefully marks her page and closes her book, resting her other hand atop of Kara’s own. “I hate to break it to you, Kar, but this isn’t a hallmark movie," she teases.  
  
“You should’ve seen your face when you told us about her! You like her!”  
  
Upon hearing that, Alex can’t keep the scowl from forming on her face as she sighs, moving her hand away; it’s not exactly a rare occurrence lately for Alex to get exasperated with Kara’s constant attempts to get her dating. “I don’t like her, Kara. She let me wait out the rain, she offered me a towel, and then we talked about your wedding. It was hardly enough time to form a crush.”  
  
“Yeah, but-”  
  
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she interrupts, a little harsher than intended. She softens her tone immediately."I just want to finish my book."  
  
She makes sure not to mention that the other reason - the _main_ reason, if she’s being honest with herself - why she doesn’t want to talk about it is because the memories of high school are still fresh in her mind, even now. She doesn’t mention that a big part of why she hasn’t dated seriously for the past few years is because she’s too much of a responsibility, too much of a burden, too much of a liability, if she’s going by what Vicky Donahue had shouted at her the final moments of their relationship.  
  
It isn’t that _she_ thinks she’s any of those things - it’s that everyone else will.  
  
“Okay,” is all Kara says in response, before the TV clicks back on and they settle into a slightly uncomfortable silence; Alex only sighs again as she reopens her book, not really paying attention to what she’s reading and instead, trying and failing to push away the thoughts now whirling around in her mind.  
  
The next morning, Lucy’s is waiting for her outside Noonan’s when she walks out with Kara - she had apologized for snapping the night before, and Kara being Kara had immediately forgiven her for it, reminding her that they still had to make up their coffee date. “Sister night is still on for tomorrow?” she asks Alex after leading her to where Lucy’s parked, music blasting from the speakers inside the car.  
  
“I’ll make sure to bring the potstickers,” she assures her, smiling when Kara squeezes her elbow excitedly before hugging her goodbye.  
  
“Are you trying to make me deaf too?” Alex asks once Kara’s left, leaning halfway through the passenger side window and wincing slightly at the volume. Lucy only laughs, the noise slowly decreasing as she turns the stereo down.  
  
“Well that depends, are you going to actually get in?”  
  
Alex pulls a face, her eyes narrowed. “Do I want to?”  
  
“Would you rather walk there with that dumb cane of yours while I drive slowly beside you?” Lucy asks, leaning over the seat and pushing open the door for her anyways. Alex only rolls her eyes as she gets in, putting her cane in the back before settling in. It was always nice, bickering with Lucy - anything she says to Kara is never usually reciprocated, and it's not like J'onn or Vasquez have any remote sense of humor themselves. It's easy with Lucy because she's not afraid to tease her back, and Alex is grateful for that. Too many people think that her blindness is something to only ever be handled with seriousness, thought of as something that's too difficult to bring up or too much of a traumatic topic to joke with her about - but Alex tries hard not to view it that way, because though being blind has changed a lot of factors in her life, she's never once thought of it as the end of the world.  
  
"What're you thinking about?" Lucy asks, bringing her back from her daze.   
  
Alex flashes her a brief smile. "Nothing," she says, buckling her seatbelt. "Let's go."   
  
  
  
**◊**  
  
  
  
“You burned the coffee again, Mags.”  
  
Her head snaps up from her newspaper to see Darla leaning against the island with a steaming mug and a repulsed expression on her face. “Shit, sorry, Darla. It was a late night,” she explains tiredly - she had spent it rushing to re-bake an entire triple-layer cake after an accident caused her to drop the one she had already prepared, having to desperately call up Winn two hours after his shift had ended to come back and decorate it again.  
  
Darla scoffs. “And an early morning, by the looks of it, babe,” she retorts, taking another sip from her mug before seeming to remember it tastes like shit. Maggie watches through heavy lidded eyes as the other woman dumps the coffee into the sink before stalking over to her, dropping a brief kiss on her cheek. “I’ll see you at the bar later?”  
  
Maggie hums, her eyes shifting back to her newspaper as Darla shrugs on her jacket. “If I feel like it,” she answers vaguely. She doesn’t bother to look up again when the door opens, nor does she even blink when it shuts. She and Darla have been a “thing” - if you could even label it, really - for the past few months now, but the longer it drags on, the more Maggie just feels like there’s something missing. She's never been good with actual relationships, and one look at her past romantic history would prove so, but after so many nights of meaningless sex, they only start to blend together into one unsatisfactory mess.  
  
Glancing at the time on her phone, she curses under her breath when she realizes it’s ten minutes to nine. She’s simultaneously yanking on her leather jacket and rushing into the parking garage when Winn’s grinning face pops up on her screen. “I’m on my way, Winn,” she promises as she fumbles with her keys, expecting him to hound her about where she is.  
  
Instead she hears, “Your friend from yesterday is here again and I’m afraid she might kill me.”  
  
Well, she was definitely not expecting _that._  
  
Despite the occasional stressful day here and there, there’s always something calming about baking, which is a stark contrast to everything else in Maggie’s life. Most days, from the moment she steps into the kitchen, her worry melts away and instead quickly takes the form of milk, butter, and eggs. It's been that way ever since she was younger, constantly baking her problems away. But today, when she walks in to see Alex sitting at the same table she was yesterday, along with a new woman Maggie's never seen before sitting across from her, she feels the exact opposite of calm. She ignores the completely irrational pang of jealousy she feels in her chest when she sees the other woman’s hand resting comfortably on Alex’s arm across the table, shoving it down and reminding herself she has no right to feel envious.  
  
“Winn tells me you want to murder him,” she states after heading to the back to grab her apron. Alex’s head tilts up at her greeting, a smile quickly gracing her features.  
  
“Winn is paranoid,” she answers. “Though I’m not totally against the idea,” she adds as an afterthought, earning a snicker from the woman sitting with her and an offended “ _Hey!_ ” from Winn behind the counter. Alex only waves him off, gesturing over to her friend. “This is my best friend Lucy. She insisted on coming with me this time.”  
  
“Right,” Maggie says, offering a polite smile but purposely avoiding Lucy’s strong gaze. “You just couldn’t stay away, could you, Danvers?” she teases, trying not to feel too accomplished when the redhead’s cheeks flush and she ducks her head down slightly, letting out a quiet _pfft._  
  
“Yeah, right. Actually, I'm here on my sister’s demand for more cupcakes. Kara practically inhaled the entire box, actually. You’re probably getting the consult, if you still want it.”  
  
“Oh, man, we are totally down!” Winn shouts from behind them; she turns and shoots him a pointed look, but Alex only smiles at the enthusiasm.  
  
Later, as Maggie speaks on the phone with Kara and furiously scribbles down the details of their meeting, she tries not to think about the fact that the possibility of seeing Alex again makes her happier than baking a cake for a billionaire CEO and her fiancee. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not 100% confident with this chapter, but I hope you guys enjoy this one anyways?


	3. Chapter 3

_“In a shocking but fortunate turn of events, Supergirl is there to save the day once again, escorting the civilians away from the alien threat before-”_ ****  
****  
“Alex?”  
  
She’s pulled from the newscaster’s voice on the TV above her by J’onn calling out her name. “Sorry, J’onn. I was listening in about Kara,” she apologizes sheepishly, forcibly shifting her attention away from the news and back to him.  
  
J’onn rests a hand on her arm. “Supergirl has it under control, Alex. You know I’ve got both the DEO and Lucy keeping an eye on her as well. If she runs into any trouble, it’s already handled.”  
  
Alex only nods, swallowing down the lump in her throat. She tries to focus on his words as she finishes her lunch, listening to him talk about work and his new relationship with a woman named M’gann. When he stops talking, she swallows her food, reaching down to pet Gertrude beside the table. “Where did you say she worked?” she inquires curiously, shamelessly stealing a fry from his plate and popping it in her mouth.  
  
“It’s an underground alien bar, and I’ve been there quite a few times already. You need a password in order to gain access. I think you would like it, Alex. It’s quiet,” he tells her.  
  
She mulls it over. A bar? She hasn’t been to one in ages, since most of the ones in National City are too crowded, too loud, too difficult to move around with her cane. She purses her lips. “Take me tonight?” she suggests genuinely, rubbing her fingers together. “And hey- I could meet M’gann! Kill two birds with one stone, you know?”  
  
“I think that’s a great idea,” he agrees earnestly. Alex gives him a warm smile, the one that’s only ever reserved for him and Kara; she’s known J’onn her whole life, and he’s never been anything short of supportive and proud of her no matter what she did, acting as a second father to her. “Are you finished?” he asks, his chair scraping against the floor as he stands. Alex nods, grabbing hold of Gertrude’s harness and following him outside.  
  
Thinking back to the news broadcast as she walks alongside J’onn, she sighs heavily; although Kara’s practically indestructible when it comes to mundane things like stopping a sinking ship or catching petty bank robbers, Alex’s worry for her always skyrockets when her sister takes on other aliens, not knowing the full extent of their powers - or worse, if they were sent by Cadmus and had their hands on any Kryptonite-embedded weaponry.  
  
“If you’re still thinking about Supergirl,” J’onn starts - Alex simply rolls her eyes, knowing that he was obviously reading her mind and not just taking a wild guess - “you’ll be pleased to know she’s here.”  
  
Alex straightens up, but she doesn’t have a chance to ask him where before she feels Kara’s hand on her shoulder, then her arms wrapping around her. Alex lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as she savors her sister’s embrace, her free hand clutching at her cape before she lets out a groan. “Okay, Supergirl, can't breathe.”  
  
“Oh, golly! Sorry, Alex!” Kara cries, releasing her immediately. Alex had taught her long ago to control her strength on Earth, but the fact that humans were far more fragile than she was still managed to slip her mind at times.  
  
“How does Lena survive cuddling you?” Alex teases her, rubbing her ribs. The superhero only makes an offended noise, lightly shoving her shoulder. Around them, Alex can hear the curious whispers of onlookers, and she just barely manages to keep the grimace off her face as she wonders what they must be thinking about the affectionate interaction between them. “Do you want to go somewhere more private?” she asks, directing the question to both J’onn and Kara.  
  
They end up at the DEO, and Alex immediately leaves Gertrude in Lucy’s hands and heads to the training room with Kara, her head buzzing with excitement at the prospect of getting to spar with her again. Turning on the Kryptonite emitters, she feels Kara’s hand on her shoulder. “You sure you want to do this right now?”   
  
Alex nods vehemently. “More than ever.”  
  
J’onn had begun training her when she was younger, before Jeremiah’s disappearance and before her condition worsened - when her vision started to really deteriorate over the years, he refused to stop, insisting on teaching Alex how to feel her opponent's movements and intentions through physical contact, how to pay attention to detail in order to aid in calculating their next move, reminding her to always be one step ahead during a fight. It was something that bonded the two of them more than anything else had. They trained almost everyday until Alex could finally beat J’onn without the martian going easy on her.  
  
“So,” she says a few minutes into her fight with Kara. “How did the-”  
  
She hears the whoosh of Kara’s cape as she pivots, moving just in time to avoid her roundhouse kick.  
  
“-wedding cake consultation go?” she finishes, swiftly grabbing hold of Kara’s arm and twisting it behind her back.She grunts when Kara brings up her other elbow and slams it into her jaw. She releases her quickly, stumbling back right as her sister lands a blow to her chest.   
  
“It was good,” she answers casually as Alex falls flat her back with a breathless  _oof_.  
  
“Yeah?” she asks, using her legs to sweep Kara off her feet. She lands on the mat with a hard thud and Alex quickly hovers over her, her forearm pressing against her throat. She taps the mat twice and lets out a tired laugh as Alex helps her up. “Your defense is getting better,” Alex comments, choosing to at least spare her  _some_ of the humiliation.  
  
Kara scoffs. “Battling aliens from Fort Rozz all the time helps.”  
  
Alex rubs her already sore jaw, feeling her way to the Kryptonite emitters and powering them off. “You said the consultation was good,” she changes the subject. “So you and Lena signed off on it?”  
  
She makes a noise of affirmation as Alex takes her arm and they walk back to meet Lucy and Gertrude. Alex tries not to think about why it feels so important to her that they had agreed on Maggie. “You want to go do something for it?” she asks hopefully. “J’onn and I are going to M’gann’s bar tonight, you and Lena can join us. We can celebrate?”  
  
“I thought you didn’t like the bars in National City?” Kara questions, confused. Alex shrugs.  
  
“J’onn promises it’ll be fun," she tells her, right before she hears Gertrude’s joyful yips. She smiles, greeting the golden retriever first with a kiss to the top of her head and earning herself a gentle kick to the shin from her best friend. “Glad to know the dog comes before me.”  
  
“The dog _always_ comes before you, Luce," Alex retaliates.   
  
It earns her another kick, harder this time, but she only laughs in response.  
  
  
  
**◊** ****  
****  
****  
  
It’s 5:34 in the evening and Maggie is delicately placing fondant roses onto her cake - while simultaneously cursing Winn for calling in sick this morning - when she hears the door open, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of paws against the floor, and she freezes in her spot. “Uh, Alex?” she calls out hesitantly while pulling back to inspect her work. Not the best job she's ever done, but still beautiful handiwork, and she beams at herself.  
  
“Hey,” she hears Alex call back casually.  
  
_What is she doing here?_ Maggie wonders. She hadn’t seen the redhead since she came in with Lucy and picked up Kara's order of an entire second box of cupcakes. Her sister and Lena Luthor had come in themselves two weeks later for the consult, and Maggie had endured a surprisingly bone-crushing hug from Alex’s sister until Lena had pried her off with a sincere apology followed by, "she really enjoyed your cupcakes.”  
  
Carefully putting the finishing touches on her work and wiping her hands off, Maggie peeks out the door to see Alex standing there with Gertrude, looking only slightly awkward. “Not that I don’t appreciate pretty women visiting my bakery, but what are you doing here?” she asks, before walking towards her and noticing the fresh bruise on her jaw. “Holy shit, Danvers, are you okay?”  
  
Alex frowns in confusion. “What?”  
  
She goes to touch Alex’s face but luckily thinks better of it, instead dropping her hand and taking another step forward. “Your jaw is bruised. Did somebody attack you? Are you hurt anywhere else? Look, if someone-”  
  
Alex cuts her off before she can finish her threat. “Oh, I was sparring earlier.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I was sparring,” Alex repeats, taking a seat and commanding Gertrude to sit. Maggie watches the dog rest her chin on Alex’s knee, the other woman looking a hell of a lot calmer than the baker feels at the moment.  
  
“I didn’t realize you fought,” she says lamely.  
  
Alex just shrugs. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Sawyer.”  
  
Maggie blinks at her, wondering if asking Alex if she’s actually an alien from another cooler planet is rude. “Are you at least good at it?” she chooses to ask instead, a goading lilt to her tone.  
  
She then watches as Alex’s face completely _lights_ _up_ and somehow, Maggie senses a ramble coming on - “Yes! Yeah, I’ve been training since I was thirteen and well, my friend J’onn taught me everything I know. When I first started to lose my sight, you know, he kept training me anyways and I spent _years_ in the sparring room, just- just fighting and making myself better, you know?” - and she turns out to be right.  
  
“Remind me never to find myself on your bad side, then, Danvers," she quips. "Do you want some ice for that?” she adds, her eyes shifting back down to the harsh red bruise; she silently thanks the universe that Alex can’t see the way her eyes linger on her sharp jawline, or the way she blushes slightly when she realizes she’s been staring at her for far too long than really necessary.  
  
Alex’s lips twitch into a smile. “I would love some ice.”  
  
“So, uh- is it just you in here today?” the redhead asks once Maggie returns with an ice pack and settles in the chair across from her, having declared she’s taking a long overdue lunch break.  
  
“Winn called in sick, but let’s just say I have plenty of reasons to believe he’s only using it to stay home with his girlfriend, Lyra."  
  
“Well, that’s certainly something I would do as well,” Alex chuckles. "Doesn't that mean more work for you?"  
  
“It does, but it’s been a slow day.”  
  
There's a glint in Alex's eyes as she says, “Isn’t it always? I have yet to meet another customer of yours."  
  
“Maybe that’s just because you can’t see them,” Maggie jokes, but she immediately regrets it as soon as the words leave her mouth. She inhales sharply, her shoulders tensing up as she searches for any sign of vexation on Alex’s face. “Shit, Danvers, I’m sorry,” she rushes out, eyes wide as she mentally curses herself for her lack of a filter. "That was completely out of line-"   
  
But Alex only lets out a laugh, one that’s surprisingly _not_ laced with hidden anger or offense, and Maggie momentarily allows herself to calm down just a bit; the part of her mind that isn’t still reeling from what she just said notes that she really enjoys it when Alex laughs, but she ignores that part in favor of the side scolding her, even if Alex doesn’t seem to mind that much.   
  
“As long as you don’t imply that I’m less capable because I’m blind, we won’t have a problem.”  
  
Maggie grins, able to fully relax now. “Noted.”  
  
They fall into a comfortable silence after that, but they both startle a few minutes later when the bell goes off and a man in a pinstripe suit steps in, looking around warily. Maggie practically jumps up from her seat, introducing herself and telling him she’ll be back in just a minute with his order before rushing off to grab the cake she had finished when Alex came in.  
  
“So you _do_ have customers,” Alex teases once the man has left. She rolls her eyes, ignoring the comment until Alex asks, “Did you always want to be a baker?”  
  
Maggie leans against the counter, pursing her lips. “No,” she finally says. “I wanted to be a cop.”  
  
“What happened?”  
  
“It just… didn’t click. But I’ve always loved to bake, so after quitting the academy it was a no-brainer. What about you?” Maggie questions.  
  
She watches as Alex gets a wistful look on her face, leaning back in her chair. “I wanted to be a bioengineer,” she answers proudly. “You can obviously guess why it didn’t work out, but science has always been my thing."  
  
“Nerd,” Maggie chuckle, and Alex blushes.They don’t fall into another silence this time, instead continuing to talk about anything and everything that comes up. Maggie learns a lot about Alex, like the fact that she also wanted to go to medical school before she lost her sight, and that she used to have another dog, Krypto, before he retired and she got Gertrude, and that she truly believes Maggie should be ashamed of herself for her affinity for vegan ice cream.  
  
Maggie tells her things about herself as well, about how she grew up in Blue Springs, Nebraska, and that she doesn’t own a dog but she _does_ own multiple bonsai trees that she treats just the same, and that even though she can bake pretty well, her cooking skills are actually pretty shit - to which Alex raises an invisible shot glass and makes a toast to that, because each time she’s attempted to cook, she’s had to buy a new fire alarm after ripping the previous one off the wall.  
  
(And if Maggie’s being honest with herself, it’s the most she’s smiled and laughed while talking to someone in more than a year.)  
  
They talk until it’s well past the bakery’s normal closing time, until Alex feels her watch and disappointingly realizes that she has to leave, but not before blurting out, “Do you want to come out with me tonight?”  
  
Maggie’s head snaps up to look at her. “You and me?” she asks, hopeful but skeptical.  
  
“Yeah!” she exclaims, and for a moment Maggie wants to believe Alex is actually _asking her out,_ before she continues. “We’re all going to this bar J’onn’s girlfriend works at. You want to join us?”  
  
“Oh,” she says, shoving away the despondency she feels at finding out it’s just a group thing. How could she even let herself think for a second that Alex was asking her on a date, anyways? She blows out a heavy sigh. “You know what? I’m actually pretty busy tonight. There's a lot of specialized orders waiting for me here."  
  
For a split second, she thinks she sees something akin to disappointment flash across Alex’s features, before it’s gone as quickly as it appeared and Maggie convinces herself she must’ve just imagined it. “Right,” Alex says, shaking her head. “Another night, then?”  
  
“Sure, Danvers,” she forces herself to say. “Another night.”  
  
  
  
**◊** ****  
****  
****  
****  
The bar _is_ quiet, just like J’onn promised, and easy enough to walk in with her cane. As she waits at the bar with Kara for everyone’s drinks, she tries to focus on everything going on around her, wanting to get a feel for the place - she can hear two sets of pool balls colliding behind her, and the music playing through the speakers above her is tasteful and not so loud that she can’t hear herself think.  
  
There’s no faint buzzing sounds from flickering lights above her and the floors aren't particularly sticky beneath her boots, telling her that at least the place is _clean_ and not _dingy_ , unlike the other bars she’s tried out. The bartenders are nice enough, as well - especially M’gann, who Alex can already tell is a good match for J’onn, and she’s beyond happy for him - which differs greatly from the bartenders she’s had the displeasure of meeting before.  
  
Overall, Alex can’t deny that it’s befitting for her, and she makes a mental note to tell J’onn so as soon as she gets back to the booth with their drinks.  
  
She almost - _almost_ \- lets herself believe she’ll be able to escape the night without any problems, but unfortunately, her life doesn’t exactly work out that way.  
  
“Hey, I’m going to run to the bathroom for a minute,” Kara tells her.   
  
Alex smirks at her. “Well, if I drop our drinks on the way back to the table, it’ll be your fault,” she teases, before she hears Kara’s footsteps fade away and she turns back to the bar.  
  
She’s alone for about 30 seconds before she’s _not_ anymore.  
  
“Hi there. Can I buy you a drink, pretty lady?”  
  
Alex stiffens immediately at the unfamiliar, slurred voice to her right. “That depends,” she says slowly.  
  
“Depends on what?” the man laughs, and she tenses up even more when a rough hand lands on her shoulder. She clenches her jaw, forcefully tearing his hand off her.  
  
“On whether or not you’ll still want to _after_ I break all your fingers."  
  
Luckily, before the man can reply and find out that her threat was serious, their drinks are ready and Kara’s back by her side, quickly stepping in between her and the man. Alex hands over the tray of drinks to her and quickly finds her way back to the booth, the tension gradually melting from her shoulders each step she takes away from the drunken stranger. “Hey, you okay?” Kara whispers in her ear after sliding into the booth beside her.  
  
Now that she’s surrounded by her friends, laughing and drinking together, Alex nods, flashing a reassuring smile to her sister and taking a sip of her own beer.  
  
For once, she means it.  
  
  
  
**◊**  
  
****  
****  
It’s the universe’s way of mocking her, really.  
  
That’s what Maggie tells herself when she closes up the bakery and heads to see Darla at the bar, because even if their sex makes her feel empty afterwards, sex is sex, after all, and so she’ll deal with the desolation for the time being if it means she’ll get to go home with somebody.  
  
Instead, she walks into the bar to see Alex, sitting alongside Kara and Lena and an older man Maggie’s occasionally seen talking to M’gann, and the first thing she realizes is, _oh shit._  
  
The second thing she realizes is that she had told Alex she was going to be stuck at work tonight, and even if the redhead couldn’t exactly notice her herself, Maggie knew that either Kara or Lena would undoubtedly call out to her if they saw her.  
  
_Shit, shit, shit._  
  
It becomes an internal mantra as she turns and rushes out the door, grateful that none of Alex’s friends had seen her yet, and she leans against the brick wall once she’s outside, rubbing her face tiredly.  
  
_New record, Sawyer,_ she mentally scolds herself as she walks back to her bike. _You talk to a girl three times and already you’re avoiding her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know the whole "blind people knowing how to fight" thing is overused and kind of a stereotype and all, BUT since Alex is a badass fighter in the show and it's a big part of her character, I decided I couldn't leave it out of this fic. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy! Also, a warning: next update will definitely not be as fast as these last three have been, so don't get used to it!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out I finished this earlier than I thought I would... Also, I apologize in advance.

She ends up back at the bakery.  
  
It wouldn't be so ridiculous, considering she's returned long after her shift for late-night baking more times than she can count, if only the reason wasn’t because she was avoiding a certain woman and her friends.  
  
She ignores the _where are you?_ text from Darla in favor of starting a new batch of blueberry muffins and trying her best to focus on the task at hand, but it’s not long before she has nothing to do but wait for them to bake and her thoughts quickly come swimming back up to the surface at the lack of distraction. Glancing at her phone - which had gone off a few more times from Darla wondering if they were still hooking up tonight - Maggie washes her hands and scoops it up.  
  
The text she ends up writing isn’t for Darla, though.  
  
**_< Hey, Danvers. Listen, I know you gave me your number for business purposes but I just wanted to apologize for bailing on you tonight. _ ** ****  
****  
She sends it off before the harsh thrumming of her heart can convince her otherwise, but as she watches the _delivered_ quickly turn into _read,_ she can’t keep from throwing her phone back on the table as if she’s been burned. She inhales deeply when the three dots appear on the screen, briefly regretting even saying anything - it’s not like Alex had given Maggie her number as _friends_ , after all, and Maggie really had no right to-  
  
**_> Hey! It’s no big deal. I wouldn’t want to distract you from your job. _ ** ****  
  
Maggie lets out something that’s a mix of both a scoff and a laugh.  
  
_Oh, you have no idea._

 

**◊**

 

For a reason unknown to Alex, she starts visiting Maggie at work more often - sometimes with money to actually buy something, never without Gertrude by her side, and always with the hope of catching the baker while she's on break. She quickly finds out that the bakery’s busiest days are on Mondays, because the first time she came in on a Monday she was greeted with the chatter of a long line of people and a slightly overwhelmed looking Maggie, and that it’s not just her and Winn but also a guy named Brian, who works behind the counter sometimes and whose flirting remains undeterred by Alex’s only half-joking threats to cut his tongue off.  
  
She doesn't think Maggie minds her visits much - after all, if the smile that’s evident in her voice is anything to go by, she typically seems elated whenever Alex comes in - but Alex decides quickly that maybe it has nothing to do with _her_ and everything to do with the fact that it must get boring only having her co-workers to talk to while she's working.  
  
It starts to become part of her routine, almost. She wakes up at seven, goes through her morning exercises, eats breakfast at Noonan’s - sometimes with Kara or Lucy - and trains at the DEO before heading to the bakery either before closing or even after, since Maggie doesn't mind. Most of the time, she just sits in her spot with Gertrude until Maggie takes her break, but even on especially busy days when she can’t take time off, Alex is content just sitting there alone, listening to everything going on.  
  
Four whole weeks pass before Kara dares to comment on it. Really, Alex thinks that it’s the longest her sister’s lasted before bringing something like this up - however, after her sour mood the last time she talked about Maggie, she can't exactly blame her for waiting to mention it. They're hanging out in the command center of the DEO with Lucy when it comes up. Alex is slowly spinning around in one of the computer chairs and sipping her coffee as Kara talks excitedly to them about a shocking breakthrough with Snapper, before the alien finishes her story and falls into silence. Alex only patiently waits for her to continue though, because she knows her sister and she knows she's not done talking just yet.

“So you've been spending a lot of time with Maggie,” she finally says, tone too casual, and Alex knows she's trying to hide the true extent of her excitement. “How's that been?”

She shrugs, her finger absently tracing the rim of her styrofoam cup as she thinks about what she can say without Kara going crazy on her. She finally settles on, “It’s nice,” and leaves it at that.  
  
“You needed more friends anyways,” Lucy jokes. “You’re too introverted.”

The vibration of her phone on the desk interrupts Alex before she can reply, and she settles on shooting a pointed look in Lucy’s direction before gliding her finger over the screen and listening as the text is read out to her.   
  
**_> Good morning, Danvers. _**

Despite herself, Alex can’t keep the smile from spreading across her face, ignoring Lucy’s snort at the action.

 **< S** ** _awyer._**  
  
**_> Wow, that’s all I get? _****  
**  
**_>_** **_And here I was thinking we were actually friends._** ** _  
_** **_  
_** Alex rolls her eyes at both Maggie’s text _and_ Kara’s not-so-quiet squeal as she types out a reply, making sure to remind her later on that yes, they're friends, but _only_ friends.

 **< ** **_You realize I only use you for the cupcakes, right?_ **  
  
**_> Damn. You truly wound me, Danvers. _ ** ****  
****  
**_> Actually, I was wondering if you’d be down for drinks tomorrow?_ **  
  
She ignores Kara’s _second_ excited squeal as the message is read, hesitating. It’s not that she isn’t eager to go out with Maggie, but they’ve only ever hung out within the confines of the bakery, and the first time Alex had invited her to the bar, it had been with a group and Maggie had declined. But this? This was different. This meant going out together without her coworkers still the around, without customers bustling in and out, and not with cupcakes but with _alcohol._

 **_< Only if the drinks are on you, Sawyer._ ** ****  
  
She presses send despite every part of her brain screaming at her to delete it, before pointing her index finger sternly at Kara. “Not one word,” she warns.    
  
Kara, of course, doesn’t listen. “You’re going on a _date!_ ”  
  
“It’s not a date, Kara.”  
  
This time, Lucy chimes in. “That’s weird because that’s almost _exactly_ what I said to you before I went out with James, and now-”  
  
(She doesn’t end up finishing her sentence before Alex is shoving her with her foot, and she tries not to feel too proud of herself when she hears Lucy’s surprised gasp as she tumbles off the desk.)

 

Gertrude gets to the door before Alex does when she hears Maggie knock, her nails already clawing at the door by the time Alex reaches it. She pushes down the slight nervousness she feels about this being the first time Maggie’s shown up to her apartment, having given out her address in a split second decision instead of meeting at the bakery.

“Down,” she orders, waiting until Gertrude’s obeyed her before swinging open the door. “Hey! Come in, I’ll get my cane.”  
  
She expects to get a hello back, or maybe even a polite, “How are you?” but she doesn’t get one. Instead, the first thing Maggie says when she steps into her apartment is, “Wow, it’s dark in here.”  
  
Alex frowns in confusion as she grabs her cane, making her way back towards the door. “Are you mocking me?” she teases with a raised eyebrow, only half joking.  
  
Maggie laughs - a quiet but blissful sound that Alex had realized about a week ago somehow fills her with a warm, fuzzy feeling - and says, “No, Danvers. Your apartment is like, pitch black.”  
  
It’s then that Alex realizes the problem, and she feels heat rise to her cheeks in embarrassment. “I always leave the lights off unless Kara or Lucy come over,” she explains with a laugh of her own. “I don’t exactly have much use for them.”  
  
“Are you fully blind?” Maggie blurts out, before quickly backtracking. “Um, that was- you don’t have to answer that!"  
  
Alex just shakes her head before gesturing for Maggie to follow her out the door and too the elevator at the end of the hall. “It’s okay to have questions, Maggie,” she promises. “But if you’re asking if all I see is darkness, the answer is no. I can still see where a light is coming from and I have photopsia.” At Maggie’s confused silence, she clarifies. “It’s basically just sporadic, flashing lights. Think of it as a bunch of shooting stars all at once? At least, that’s what Kara called it when I explained it to her when she first came to Ear- to our home after being adopted.”  
  
She flinches at the slip-up, but if Maggie noticed it, she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she whistles lowly. “Sounds like a tough break,” she says, but Alex just shrugs, because she’s used to it by now.  
  
She feels the biting chill of the night as they step outside, walking in comfortable silence to the bar, with Alex listening to the various noises of the city around them. When she had first moved to National City from Midvale, her mother had been wary, telling her that a smaller town would be more fitting. Alex had refused, though, insisting on staying in National City with Kara and J’onn. Over the years, she’s gotten used to the white noise of the city. As they come up to a corner, a bus moans and screeches to a halt, it’s doors opening with a hiss. Ahead of her, she hears other people  idly chatting as someone on a bicycle whizzes by. Ambulance sirens wail in the distance, quickly fading as they speed to their destination.  
  
She almost jumps when she feels Maggie’s hand on her arm, but luckily, her training with J’onn’s paid off and she’s able to control her reflexes. “We’re here,” Maggie tells her.  
  
The first thing Alex notices when they walk in is that the bar sounds busier than it was the last two times she’s come by - the first with J’onn, Kara, and Lena and the second with Lucy. The second thing she notices is that Maggie’s still touching her arm, and suddenly it feels as if her hand is burning a hole straight through her coat.  
  
“What do you drink?”  
  
Alex is about to say vodka before remembering that this is _Maggie_ and not _Lucy_ , so she changes her order to a simple beer, figuring it wouldn’t make a very good impression to get shit-faced their first night outside the bakery together.  
  
When Maggie goes to order their drinks, Alex hovers beside her, not wanting to leave to find a seat just yet. “Two beers, Darla.”  
  
So of course, she hears the bartender huff at Maggie. “You moved on fast,” she hears her mutter, her comment laced with both surprise and jealousy. Maggie only awkwardly thanks her for the drinks and leads Alex away, choosing a booth somewhere in the corner, away from most of the other people.  
  
Alex takes a long sip of her beer, willing herself to stop being so nervous - it’s not like this _is_ a date, like Kara had insisted it was, but the bartender’s words are still in the forefront of her mind. She clears her throat, sensing Maggie’s own tense silence. “So that- uh, was that an ex or something?” she finally manages to ask, taking another sip of her drink as soon as the words leave her mouth.  
  
Maggie hums. “Not exactly sure you could call her an ex, if you know what I mean,” she says. Alex frowns in confusion for a moment, thinking  _no_ , _I don’t know what you mean,_ before her eyes widen a bit and she coughs, heat rising to her cheeks as she realizes just what Maggie was implying.  
  
“Oh- so, you two…”  
  
“Yeah. That’s not a problem with you, is it?”  
  
Alex can hear both the defensiveness and apprehension in Maggie’s voice, can feel the tension in the air around them, and she suddenly realizes how that sounds. “Oh! No, I’m not- I’m… I’m gay too.”  
  
She thinks she hears Maggie inhale sharply, but she’s not completely sure. “My fault, Danvers. Shouldn’t have assumed.”  
  
“It’s fine,” she says, clearing her throat. She changes the subject. “So how’s pinstripe guy?”  
  
Maggie laughs at that, all earlier tension melting away as she talks; she had told Alex a couple days ago about one of her clients - a man always dressed in a pinstripe suit - coming in almost twice every week for custom orders, and how she always wonders what he needed so many cakes for but never asks. Eventually, after their second round of drinks, Alex starts to find herself more relaxed from the alcohol in her system, and completely enthralled with what Maggie is saying until the baker clears her throat and apologizes for talking too much.  
  
“Got any plans for Christmas in a few weeks, Danvers?”   
  
Alex stays silent for a moment. “My mother’s coming over from Midvale to visit.”  
  
Maggie makes a sympathetic noise. “By the look on your face I’m going to guess that’s not a good thing?” she prods carefully. Alex fiddles with a string on her sweater sleeve, tugging at it idly as she sips from her drink.  
  
“It’s not… _bad_ , it’s just- it’s always harder when she’s here? I don’t know.”  
  
It’s not that she doesn’t love her mother, because she does - it’s just that whenever she’s around, Alex needs an extra glass of wine with dinner… and then another after dessert.  
  
“Mothers can be overbearing,” Maggie states.  
  
“Is yours?”  
  
“I don’t talk to my parents anymore,” she says vaguely, and Alex can hear the pain in her tone and quickly decides to drop it, knowing that she’d rather not spend their first night out sulking and ranting about their families. Instead, they move onto lighter topics, and Alex listens as Maggie tells her about the ups and downs of working in the bakery - “the mornings are calm, the customers not so much,” - and Maggie listens as Alex explains that no, Gertrude doesn’t know the traffic lights, and that’s it's  _her_ job to listen for cars.  
  
They’re finishing their third round of drinks when things go downhill.  
  
Alex hears the two sets of footsteps and smells the stench of alcohol on their clothes before they even reach their booth, and she notices Maggie stop in the middle of her sentence once they stop next to the table. “Hey, you gals up for some pool?” one of them slurs, and Alex feels the table shift as he leans against it.  
  
“We’re good,” Maggie says tightly.   
  
“One game?” the other one pleads, and Alex vaguely recognizes his voice, but she can’t remember where she’s heard it from so she brushes it off.  
  
“She said we’re good,” she steps in, her tone harsh and warning.  
  
She hears Maggie sigh as she gets up. “Come on. It’s getting late anyways.”  
  
Alex is about to follow her when the man grabs hold of her wrist. “Oh come on now, don’t be like that,” he says. Alex feels her face grow hot with anger at the fact that this is happening _again_ , but then she realizes that the voice sounds familiar because it’s the same guy from the first night she came here, and it all makes sense.  
  
“Let me go,” she demands, her voice calmer than ever but her fighter instincts already starting to bubble to the surface, knowing that if he were to try anything, there wouldn’t be any hesitation before sending him sprawling on the floor. But the man’s grip only tightens around her wrist, and her fist clenches. “Listen, pal,” Alex growls, but before she can finish her threat, his grip releases right as she hears the unmistakable sound of flesh on flesh as the man grunts in pain.  
  
“What the _fuck?"_   he spits out angrily.   
  
Alex immediately stiffens up at the feeling of Maggie’s hand on her elbow, but the other woman doesn’t seem to notice, instead gently leading her away from the two guys. Alex barely registers Maggie telling her they’re going back to the bakery.  
  
She stays silent the whole way there.  
  
Maggie doesn’t notice.  
  
  
  
**◊** ****  
****  
****  
****  
It's when they get inside that Maggie finally sees the strange tension in Alex's shoulders, the clench in her jaw. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asks, reaching for her shoulder. Alex quickly shrugs away from her touch, and Maggie tries to ignore the way it stings slightly when she does. "Look if this is about me punching that bastard in the bar-"  
  
"Do you not think I can handle myself?" Alex cuts her off.  
  
Maggie reels back, surprised at the sudden anger in the redhead's eyes. "He grabbed you. You needed-"  
  
"No, Maggie!" Alex snaps. Maggie only stares at her, not knowing what to say, but Alex plows through. "I've been blind half my life. I don't need someone punching drunk men in the face when I'm clearly dealing with it. I don't _need_ help. I am more than capable of handling myself, but you don't believe that-"  
  
"Alex, that's not what-"  
  
"No, I think- I should just go. I- I'm sorry," she stammers, her free hand grabbing for the doorknob. Maggie drops her keys onto the counter and tries to step towards her.  
  
"Alex, wait-" she starts, but Alex cuts her off again, turning her head back slightly and waving her off.  
  
"I'll see you."  
  
She slumps against the counter as the door slams shut, feeling defeated and confused.  
  
That was definitely _not_ how the night was supposed to go.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, first of all: I want to apologize for the slight inconvenience. I've deleted the original chapter 5 and am restarting with this new, edited one - basically, I had an idea in my mind about where this story was going to go, but after attempting to actually write it down and not having it play out the way I wanted it to, as well getting some (very helpful!!!) feedback in the comments, I realized my idea was only going to fall flat - if I had kept going with the first plot line I had been planning, the rest of my story would've ended up unsatisfactory to me, at best. Therefore I've decided to switch it around, and I hope this new chapter is still good! :)

It had been raining the day Alex found out she was going blind.  
  
She remembers it well, because the storm outside had been the only thing she was able to focus on after the news left the optometrist’s mouth, followed by, _I’m very sorry, but there’s just nothing we can do at this point._  
  
Sitting in his office with her parents, she had taken the seat closest to the window. When her mother started crying and her father began asking about treatments and options, she zoned out. She had turned her attention instead on the sound of the rain hitting the window and the way the drops seemed to race each other as they slid down the glass, the view only slightly skewered by the darkness that had began to creep up at the edges of her peripheral.  
  
She was barely fourteen, then.  
  
Over time, despite how much it frustrated her, Alex simply got used to people grabbing her arm and dragging her across the street without even asking. She got used to people telling her, “I’m praying for you,” as if she needed praying to begin with. She got used to the people around her not believing she was capable of doing things on her own, just because she couldn’t see like they could.  
  
She got used to the unneeded help.  
  
But receiving it from Maggie?  
  
Somehow, that makes her angrier than any overbearing, sympathetic stranger ever has.  
  
She listens to the busy sounds of the city outside her apartment, ignoring the slight tremble in her hands as she wraps them, and tries to block out everything else once she starts hitting the bag - her punches growing harder, faster, because she figures that if she focuses solely on the power of her strikes then she can’t think about anything else. It's only when her arms start to feel like jello she takes a break, her chest heaving as she wipes the sweat off her forehead.  
  
She flexes her fingers, wincing when pain shoots through her hands, and drags herself to the bathroom. She finds the antiseptic in its respective place under the sink and hoists herself on top of it, hissing in pain as she carefully dabs at her split knuckles. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thinks about how she’ll probably be receiving a stern lecture later on from both Kara _and_ Lucy on how she needs to stop injuring herself so much.  
  
Then, as if hearing her name being mentioned within the mess of Alex’s thoughts, Lucy’s storming into her apartment and flicking the lights on just as she starts to wrap her hands in gauze.  
  
Alex freezes at her best friend's voice. “Lucy, what are you doing here?”  
  
“You weren’t answering any of my texts, I had to come see if you were dead,” Lucy answers, and Alex can hear the concern in her voice as she comes closer, the wood creaking beneath her feet.  
  
“You shouldn’t have to come over here,” is all Alex says as slides off the sink. Lucy scoffs.  
  
“Well, it looks like you would’ve punched yourself raw if I hadn’t.” Alex only shrugs, taking a seat on the couch and feeling Lucy do the same. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asks quietly.  
  
“Nope.”  
  
“Alex.” Lucy’s tone is gentle but warning.  
  
“Can we just sit?” she asks, sighing as Lucy pulls Alex into her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. If it were anyone else, Alex wouldn’t be okay with this type of intimacy unless it was with Kara; but Lucy was always an exception. She had met the major only a couple of years ago, when she had stormed into the DEO and took J’onn into custody after the martian was forced to reveal himself during an attack. Lucy had eventually aided Alex in getting J’onn released, and after the whole ordeal blew over, they ended up becoming fast friends.  
  
They stay like that for what seems like hours, Lucy’s hands combing softly through Alex’s hair. She lets her, eventually leaning into her touch and shutting her eyes, finally letting herself feel the exhaustion in her bones. After a few minutes, Lucy tries again. “Want to tell me what happened? Weren’t you out with Maggie last night?”  
  
“Maggie punched someone for me- some asshole. I’ve sparred with _Supergirl._ I can take down a guy in a bar just fine.”  
  
“It sounds like she was just trying to help."  
  
“I don’t need help just because I’m blind,” Alex grunts.  
  
“Have you considered that maybe she didn’t do it because you’re blind, but because she was just trying to protect a friend?” Lucy points out.  
  
Alex chews her bottom lip. She _hadn’t_ considered that, and she hadn’t even let her explain herself. She shakes her head. Now that she’s taken her initial anger out on the punching bag, she realizes that maybe she should’ve waited for Maggie’s side of the story instead of rushing out of the bakery like she did. If she’s being completely honest with herself, she enjoys Maggie’s company more than she’d really like to admit, and the prospect of her newly formed friendship with the baker dwindling back into nothing is already something Alex finds herself dreading - she tries not to think about how much that scares her.  
  
She stays silent after that, listening to the sound of Lucy’s breathing, lost in her thoughts until her best friend speaks up again. “Do you want some breakfast? I’ll make a doughnut run and we can catch up on Wynonna Earp."  
  
Alex cracks a small smile at that, pulling away from her position tucked into Lucy’s side so that the other woman can get up. They spend the rest of their morning doing just that, with Lucy occasionally describing the fast-paced intense scenes to her when Alex can’t always guess what’s happening just by listening, before heading to the DEO together and splitting off to do their respective jobs, Lucy to her office and Alex to the training room.  
  
  
  
“Your form is weak. The kick’s power comes from the force of your hip - the quicker the rotation, the faster the kick. Now try it," she orders one of the new recruits, sweat dripping down her hairline.  
  
She hears the agent make a noise in the back of his throat. “Are- are you sure?”  
  
“Would I be telling you to if I wasn’t?” she challenges, cocking an eyebrow. They’d been training for hours but the new recruit simply wasn’t getting it. She sighs. “You’re letting your hesitation get in the way of your defense. Don’t.”  
  
She hears the shuffle of his feet as he backs up, breathing heavily. “I- I don’t know-”  
  
“Agent Connors,” she cuts him off. The shuffling stops. “Try it. Strike with your shin. Go.”  
  
There’s a pause, before Alex hears him step back, stumbling a bit on his feet before she feels the hard bone of his shin against the top of her thigh. She grunts, her knee buckling from under her before she swiftly stables herself with the ease of years of practice. She nods respectively at him. “Good. Do it again with Agent Beckett.”  
  
Turning away as she hears them scuffle, she feels around for her water bottle and takes a long sip. Beside her, she hears someone drop, their body slamming hard against the mat, and she lets out a breathless laugh as Agent Connors cheers before landing on the mat himself. New recruits were always overly excited, too focused on solely taking down their opponent to think about making sure they don’t get taken down themselves.   
  
Alex likes to think she’s almost as good a trainer as J’onn was to her - she’s following in his footsteps, after all, giving them the same tips and and reassurances he had given her all those years back, when she first started out.  Being a trainer isn’t what she had always wanted to do, though - she had asked J’onn a little while ago about putting her out in the field, but he had refused, insisting that there would be too many things that could go wrong due to her impairment. Alex was good at hand-to-hand combat, however acting when there was a real alien threat would’ve been too tricky, as she wouldn’t be able to detect any powers they might possess ahead of time.  
  
It had been difficult to deal with, not being able to go out in the field like she desperately wanted to in order to protect Kara, but after her sister had flew into her apartment later that night and told her she agreed with J’onn’s assessment of her not being eligible, Alex had eventually promised her that if she couldn’t be in the field herself, she would at least try her best to train the agents hired to aid her in ridding National City of the not-so-friendly Fort Rozz escapees out there.  
  
“Alex, I’d like to speak to you privately for a moment.”  
  
Alex raises an eyebrow in the direction of J’onn’s voice before grabbing her cane from against the wall and following him out of the training room. “Yeah?” she asks, slightly confused at the concern in his voice.  
  
“I want you to head home for the rest of the afternoon. Your thoughts are worryingly loud today and by the looks of it, I think it’s best that you get some rest - and don’t think I can’t see the bandages on your hands. You’re overworked. Go home.”  
  
She rolls her eyes, exasperated. “J’onn, I’m fine-”  
  
“That wasn’t a suggestion, Alex. It was an order. Report back to your apartment immediately, you’re welcome back once you’ve had some decent sleep. I'll know.”  
  
Frowning, Alex stubbornly stays put, her eyes narrowed. After a moment, she sighs, her shoulders slumping. “Fine, but I’m coming back first thing tomorrow!” she insists, daring him to tell her no.  
  
J’onn only claps her shoulder before turning her around himself, giving her a gentle shove to the door. 

  
  
**◊** ****  
****  
****  
****  
“Whoa, what did the raspberry tartlets do to deserve _that_ glare?”  
  
Maggie’s eyes flit up to meet Winn’s, glaring at him instead. “They started asking me dumb questions,” she deadpans. Winn holds up his hands in surrender, taking a cautious step back from the table. Maggie sighs. “Sorry, Winn, it’s just been…”  
  
“A rough day?” he finishes for her, a sympathetic expression on his face.  
  
Maggie nods silently. The incident from the other night hasn’t stopped replaying in her mind, and her texts to Alex have all gone unread. She hates knowing that Alex thought she was defending her because she was blind, since that wasn’t the case at all - having stayed through most of the police academy as well as suffering through the incessant come-ons of drunk men for years, seeing one of them grab Alex as roughly as he did had only caused her natural instincts to kick in. She would’ve done it for any one of her friends. Alex hadn’t stayed around long enough for Maggie to explain that.  
  
In a way, the radio silence she's been receiving from the redhead forces her back to freshman year of highschool, remembering the way Eliza Wilke had refused to talk to her after the incident on Valentine's day, when Maggie had been stupid enough to have faith that Eliza might've liked her back. Aside from getting kicked out of her house, one of the worst things about the situation was not hearing from the other girl, after so long of being the only one Maggie constantly talked to.  
  
Shaking her head, she turns back to her tartlets and continues placing the raspberries on top, hearing but not really listening to what Winn starts talking to her about. She’s halfway finished when she hears the bell chime and Brian’s voice - loud and in awe - exclaim, “ _Supergirl?_ ”  
  
Both Maggie and Winn’s heads snap towards the door at the same time, and Maggie vaguely sees Winn throw down his piping bag before rushing out the door, leaving her staring after him with a raised eyebrow before following. When she exits the back, she can already hear Winn gushing at the superhero, the few customers in line staring at her. “Holy mother of… This is _so_ cool!”  
  
“Schott,” Maggie warns, coming up beside him. Despite the amazing things Supergirl has done for National City and all the powers she possesses, Maggie’s never been too impressed with the alien, even if she does respect her on some level. “Supergirl,” she greets warily - something about the woman standing in front of her seems undeniably familiar, and not just from the news broadcasts she’s seen showing the superhero in action, but she brushes it off. Mainly, she’s just confused as to what the Girl of Steel is doing in her bakery. “Can I help you with anything?”  
  
Supergirl looks at her, her hands on her hips. “I was stopping a car crash a few blocks from here and decided to drop by. Kara Danvers tells me you make the best cupcakes in National City?” she inquires with a bright smile. Maggie nearly scoffs, but manages to hold herself back, and for a moment she wonders how Alex’s little sister knows Supergirl well enough to talk about _cupcakes_ , before remembering that she’s a reporter for CatCo.  
  
“I’d hardly call them the best,” Maggie replies, not modestly but honestly. She knows her baking is good, but she would never imply she was the _best._  
  
“Do you- do you want some cupcakes? I’ll go get you some!” Winn pipes up, eyes still wide as he rushes past Brian behind the counter. Maggie rolls her eyes at his enthusiasm, turning back to Supergirl. For a moment, she hesitates, not knowing whether or not it’ll be a good idea - then she shakes off her doubts, deciding if it backfires, she’ll deal with it.  
  
“So you know Kara Danvers personally?” she asks. At Supergirl’s nod, she clears her throat. “Do you… Do you happen to know her sister?”  
  
Something flashes in Supergirl’s eyes that Maggie can’t quite read. She straightens up, her hands falling from her hips and instead crossing over her chest. “I do,” she says slowly, eyes narrowed in confusion. Maggie shifts under her strong gaze, glancing over at Winn to see him hurriedly shoving cupcakes into a box.  
  
“Do you know… How is she?”  
  
Supergirl's expression softens, her eyes twinkling. “Alex told me what happened between you two,” she says. Maggie stiffens, but Supergirl doesn’t seem to notice and continues. “From what I heard, it sounds like you were only trying to help. Alex can be… really stubborn when it comes to those who try to take care of her. Annoyingly stubborn,” she adds.  
  
Winn appears at Maggie's side then, practically shoving the box of cupcakes into Supergirl’s arms and nearly fainting when she chirpily thanks him. "I'll make sure to send Kara Danvers over here later to pay you on my behalf-"   
  
"No, I can't ask for Supergirl's money," Maggie admits. Even if she isn't particularly impressed by her, she _did_ constantly save the city. It feels wrong somehow, charging her for something as small as cupcakes.  
  
But Supergirl shakes her head vehemently, eyes wide. "I would never use my powers or my title to get free things! I'm paying for these."   
  
Maggie only nods - she has a feeling that if she starts an argument about it, she'll lose anyways - and doesn’t say anything else as the superhero heads for the door, already scarfing down one of the cupcakes. The alien smiles at her again. “Just talk to her again. I’m sure Alex will hear you out eventually,” is the last thing she says before taking off in front of her door, leaving Maggie with a fascinated Winn, a shocked line of customers, and the slightest hope that she's right.  
  
  
  
It takes her seven minutes to gather the courage to knock and two more for Alex to actually get to the door, which makes it nine whole minutes of Maggie’s heart beating out of her chest as she waits.  
  
“Who is it?” she asks. Maggie takes a deep breath.  
  
“It’s Maggie.”  
  
For a long and terrible moment, there’s silence, and she doesn’t know if Alex is going to let her in. Then the door swings open, revealing a slightly groggy looking Alex - despite her nerves, Maggie can’t help but smile slightly at her disheveled hair and flannel pajamas, but then her panic sets in when she realizes she probably woke her - it _is_ pretty late, but Maggie had been too anxious to wait until the morning. “Is this a bad time? I just really needed to talk to you.”  
  
Alex hesitates, but to Maggie’s relief, she steps aside to let her in, making sure to switch on the light as she does so. Maggie inhales deeply as she brushes past her, feeling the heat radiating off the other woman as she does so. “What is it?”  
  
Maggie wrings her hands. She had come here with a plan in mind, a little speech that she had practiced a dozen times while kneading dough before she left for Alex’s apartment. Now that she’s finally here, her thoughts are gone, having flown out the window as soon as Alex opened the door. “I wanted to apologize. For last night, I-”  
  
“Stop,” Alex cuts her off. She snaps her mouth shut, dreading the words that'll most likely come out of Alex's mouth next. She was going to kick her out, or yell at her, or tell her she shouldn’t have come, or- “I should be the one apologizing, not you.”  
  
Maggie just looks at her, seeing a hint of regret in her eyes. She notices Alex tugging her sleeves over her hands like she always does when she’s nervous, and tries not to let her eyes linger too much on the gauze wraps around her knuckles; she frowns. “I’ve thought a lot about this, and I realize that I was wrong… for snapping at you. I just- I’ve gotten so used to people trying to do things for me because they think I'm helpless, and it’s- well, it’s not a good feeling. So when you jumped in and punched that guy at the bar, I- I just blew a gasket and overreacted when I should’ve heard your side first. I shouldn’t have assumed you did it because I’m blind. I'm sorry.”  
  
“It wasn't about that,” Maggie agrees. "I never thought you were helpless."  
  
Alex nods. “I know. I'm sorry,” she repeats, her voice quiet.  
  
Relieved but still hesitant, Maggie shifts slightly, wondering what to do; Alex makes the decision for her though, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. At first, Maggie’s surprised, but then she smiles softly and returns the hug, wrapping her own arms around Alex’s torso and trying not to let herself melt too much into the soft embrace. This friendship with her is still new, after all, and even Maggie can tell when a hug is merely a short apologetic one.  
  
She also tries not to feel too disappointed when Alex pulls away a second later, lips pursed sideways and a faint blush across her cheeks. “I want to make it up to you,” she says genuinely. “Do you want to go back out tomorrow night?”  
  
She smiles. “Sure, Danvers. I promise not to punch anyone this time.”  
  
Alex just laughs, and Maggie can’t help but feel her heart skip a beat at the sound. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it! Again, very sorry for any confusion or disappointment or anything!


	6. Please Read!

Hey guys! So for those of you who already read chapter 5, in case you don't get the notification or anything like that - I just want to let y'all know that I've edited and re-uploaded the chapter, so make sure to reread that before chapter 6 (or in this case chapter 7) comes out! The explanation is in the authors note! :)))


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me longer than the other ones did, so sorry about that. Also: how mad would you guys be if I told you I've completely forgotten to finish the companion piece to my Soulmate/Coffee Shop AU? Whoops. It's going up eventually, I swear! (as if I haven't promised that a thousand times already)

“I’m serious! It happened!”  
  
“You got scammed by a _girl_ _scout?_ _”_ Maggie repeats incredulously, trying to stifle her laughter at the other woman's petulant expression at the memory, even though she was the one who had suggested sharing embarrassing stories in the first place.  
  
Alex throws her hands up in a _what can you do?_ kind of way. “I got home after buying _six_ boxes for Kara, and it turned out they all just had rocks in them.”  
  
Maggie actually does laugh then, taking a sip of her beer as she eyes Alex’s empty glass. “You want another one?” she asks, already sliding out of her seat as Alex nods. She strolls back up to the bar with a wide smile on her face, one that she hasn’t been able to wipe off the entire night. “Another peach mojito, M’gann,” she calls out.

“I see you’re hanging out with Alex,” M’gann points out as she slides the drink across the bar. Maggie tilts her head at her, digging money out of her wallet.  
  
“I am,” she answers warily.  
  
The bartender smiles softly, shrugging a shoulder as she wipes down the bar. “Don’t mind Darla’s comments about it, she’s just jealous. You two look good together.”  
  
Maggie's eyes widen, her face growing hotter than she’d like to admit - she’s never usually reacted like this, especially when it comes to women. Hell, she’s always dated casually, and she even likes to think she’s a damn good flirter. But somehow, this is different. “We’re just friends,” she insists.  
  
At that, M’gann only winks at her. “If you say so, Mags.”  
  
Maggie grabs the drink and walks back to the table without responding.  
  
“Hey, you got quiet. What's up?” Alex asks curiously after a few minutes. Maggie just smiles up at her despite her not being able to see it.  
  
“Nothing important. Now, I believe you owe me more embarrassing stories?”  
  
Maggie insists on walking Alex home when they leave, safely discarding her motorcycle in the hands of M’gann, because she’s only had one beer and Alex had several more, and even if the redhead isn’t _drunk_ and has had years of fighting experience, Maggie refuses to let her walk alone at night.  
  
She glances sideways at her as they stop at an intersection, taking in the soft glow of her hair under the street lights and the way that her hand fits perfectly in the crook of Maggie’s elbow. She catches the amused expression on her face just before she says, “You’ve got to stop going mute on me here, Sawyer,” and nudges Maggie’s shoulder with her own as they cross over. It’s only when they reach the other side of the road that Maggie notices it’s snowing, light enough at first that the snowflakes melt as soon as they hit the concrete but gaining enough speed that in a few minutes, the ground will mostly be covered.  
  
“Sorry,” she breathes out when she feels Alex’s hand squeeze her elbow after not receiving an answer. “Guess I do keep spacing out, huh?”  
  
The redhead flashes her a gentle smile, and Maggie somehow has a feeling that a smile like that doesn’t come easily for Alex Danvers. “Penny for your thoughts?” she asks, eyes twinkling with curiosity.  
  
Maggie bites the inside of her cheek as they turn a corner. “Just watching the snow.”  
  
Alex’s nose wrinkles at that. “Snow is a pain in the ass, if you ask me. I don’t like to bring Gertrude out in the cold for too long, and do you have any idea how hard it is to get around with a cane when the snow covers _fucking_ everything?”  
  
Maggie can’t help but laugh at that, until she sees the serious expression on Alex’s face and realizes that no, it must not be very easy when you can’t feel the important things like where one curb ends and another begins. “Can’t say that I have,” she says.  
  
They fall silent after that.  
  
When Alex invites her into the apartment because it’s late, Maggie makes the excuse that her bike is still at the bar and she doesn’t want it to get stolen. It’s not a _complete_ lie and it at least makes the disappointment on Alex’s face at her initial decline of the offer fade, replaced with understanding, so Maggie sticks with it.  
  
When she gets back to her own apartment thirty minutes later, hanging her motorcycle helmet by the door and immediately stalking into the bathroom, she decides the first thing she needs before bed is a long, hot shower. As she waits for the water to heat up, she glances in the mirror and narrows her eyes as she points at the glass.  
  
“Just friends!” she reminds herself.  
  
Her reflection merely stares back at her, it’s expression slowly crumbling from stern to disbelieving.  
  
She gives up.  
  
She tries to sleep after that, she really does - but no matter how tired she feels, rest doesn’t come.  
  
It’s only now, when she’s laying in bed and staring blankly up at the ceiling that she thinks about M’gann’s comment again, and how the bartender automatically assumed she and Alex were dating. _Did_ they look good together? Maggie hadn’t exactly allowed herself to think about it too much -  she’s never been one for relationships, especially not after what happened the last few times, and as much as she finds herself liking Alex more and more each day, she can somehow tell the other woman isn't big on dating herself. Granted, Maggie had only just found out she was gay the last time they went out, but Alex has never mentioned any exes before that.  
  
Then again, she’s never asked.  
  
She doesn't ever intend to, either. She doesn’t exactly know whether or not they’re even at that point in their friendship yet, to talk about their relationship fuck-ups. She doesn’t have many friends in National City to compare this new, blossoming one with Alex to, especially anyone who had managed to grow on Maggie as quickly as she had. It’s not as if she ever talks to _Winn_ about any personal stuff, save for when he occasionally forces it out of her by threatening to annoy her for the rest of his shift.  
  
But Maggie’s starting to think that even if she did have a friend to compare it to, it wouldn’t matter much, because this thing with Alex is different - and Maggie doesn’t normally scare easily, but that fact terrifies her.  
  
Letting out a groan of both frustration and exhaustion, Maggie slides out of bed and pads through the dark to her closet, yanking out her leather jacket and pulling on a pair of shoes. It’s a quarter to midnight and she’s still in her sweatpants, and a leather jacket probably won’t do much against the frigid December air - especially since it’s still snowing - but Maggie figures the cold will help wake her up more anyways.  
  
The drive on her motorcycle is short, thank God, and by the time she’s inside, she’s wide awake just like she’d predicted. She lets out a relieved sigh as she walks into the bakery, reveling in the peaceful silence and the warmth as she ties her apron.  
  
She had been baking since she was young, ever since her abuela made her a cake for her twelfth birthday and she eagerly wanted to learn how to do the same. Even after her parents kicked her out for being gay two years later, she continued baking at her tia’s house - it was the one thing that distracted her from the mess that was her life, the one thing that she knew she was _good_ at. When her tia was busy at work and Maggie was left alone with her self-deprecating thoughts, she baked. When she got her first girlfriend and went through her first breakup - but certainly not her first heartbreak - she baked. When she found out that her parents truly _never_ wanted to see her again, she baked.  
  
There shouldn’t have been any question about what she wanted to do in life. So later, when she moved to Gotham and thought she wanted to become a police officer like her father - even if she didn’t respect the man himself, she respected his job choice - she ended up quitting the academy right before she was supposed to graduate, coming to the conclusion that she didn’t want to follow in her father’s footsteps after all, but instead make a career out of the one thing that kept her sane.  
  
If she had to choose, she’d choose baking every time.  
  
She’s rolling out dough when she feels her phone vibrate in her back pocket, and quickly brushes the flour off her hands before checking it.  
  
**_> You’re probably asleep by now, but I just wanted to say I had a lot of fun tonight._ ** ****  
****  
She starts writing out a reply when another text comes in.  
  
**_> By the way, that girl scout story stays between us. _ ** ****  
****  
**_> I mean it._ ** ****  
****  
Grinning widely, Maggie only rolls her eyes at the messages.  
  
**_< Don’t worry, Danvers. I won’t tell anyone a 7 yr old scammed you out of thirty dollars._ **  
  
**_> Shut it, Sawyer!_ **  
  
  
  
**◊**  
  
  
  
There’s an oscillating fan in her room that makes an irritating clicking noise each time it reverses its rotation, and the only reason Alex has noticed it is because she’s been counting every click for the past half hour, her head burrowed into a pile of pillows as Gertrude snores beside her.  She’s had a giddy feeling in her stomach all morning, which deep down, she knows has nothing to do with the alcohol she consumed the night before and everything to do with seeing Maggie again - the longer they hang out together, the more Alex decides she enjoys the baker’s presence.  
  
Having woken up almost an hour ago but not really feeling like getting up, she can’t help but let her thoughts wander to the way Maggie had laughed more than she’s ever heard last night, and the way Maggie had continually touched her - whether it was a hand on her knee or a shoulder pressed against her own - and the way Maggie had lingered ever so slightly during the goodbye hug but Alex hadn’t minded one bit, because that meant one more second of feeling Maggie’s breath against the back of her neck and her arms wrapped around her torso.  
  
She tries _not_ to think about it, tries to listen to the voice inside her head coming out of hiding to remind her of why she shouldn’t be thinking about her so much, of why there’s no way someone like _Maggie_ would ever be interested in someone like _Alex_ , tries not to dwell too much on the flirtatious undertones and convincing herself that it was only the alcohol speaking (even though Maggie had driven her bike to the bar and hadn’t ordered more than one beer).  
  
She’s suddenly yanked from her thoughts when she hears Kara enter from the balcony, already screaming at her as she crosses the room. “Alex! What are you still doing in bed? It’s almost noon!”

“Kara, it’s my day off. What else would I be doing?”

“We’re supposed to go get your dress!”

Alex groans at the reminder. Since Gertrude had accidentally ruined the dress she had chosen for the wedding four months ago, they had to get her a new one, and they were already running out of time to get it even without the altercations that would have to be made over the next few weeks. Alex had been dreading it forever - she would do anything for her little sister, but the one thing she _didn’t_ want to do was go dress shopping with her again, as excited as Kara got.  
  
“You know, I could always wear my-”  
  
“You are _not_ showing up as my maid of honor in your DEO uniform,” Kara interrupts her sharply. She feels a smack on her leg and groans again when the covers are roughly pulled off of her, leaving her cold and disappointed. “Now get up!”

It only takes Alex twenty minutes to get ready, but it takes her almost two hours to try on dresses, with Kara, Lena, and Lucy acting as the judges each time she comes out in a new one.

“It looks terrible,” she mutters, a permanent scowl on her face as she adjusts the shoulder strap for the millionth time since slipping it on.  
  
“Alex, you can’t even see it,” Kara argues.  
  
“Well, it _feels_ terrible.”  
  
She smirks at Kara’s exasperated whine, carefully stepping down from the platform in her heels and feeling her way back to the stall. She hears Lena grab another dress off the hanger, her heels clicking against the floor. “Here, try this one. It’s champagne.”  
  
Alex grabs it and closes the stall door, quickly stripping off her current dress. She wasn’t lying, it _did_ feel terrible - lace has never been one of her go-to’s while choosing something formal to wear, and she doesn’t think she could last the entire ceremony in the itchy fabric. Brushing her hands over the new dress, she’s relieved to find out it’s silky and smooth, strapless with a slit in the leg and a layer of simple, loose ruffles down the front. When she walks back out in it, Kara squeals and even Lucy hums in appreciation.  
  
“Alex! This is the one!” Kara shrieks elatedly, before quickly lowering her voice after an employee immediately shushes her. “You look beautiful!” she whisper-shouts.  
  
Alex runs her hands down the front, shifting slightly as she feels the air hit her thigh. “You think?”    
  
Lucy speaks up this time, whistling lowly. “Definitely. You look hot,” she says, earning a “ _Lucy!”_ from Kara and an eye roll from Alex.  
  
“Alex, please tell me we can get this one,” Kara pleads, and although she can’t see her, she somehow has a feeling her sister’s practically begging on her knees before her. “Lena, tell Alex to get this one!”  
  
“Only if she wants to, darling,” Lena replies with a light chuckle. "Though I do have to agree, it suits you well."   
  
Alex contemplates it - the dress _does_ feel good, at least good enough to wear for the ceremony. “Well, as long as it makes Lucy swoon,” she teases, and listens to Kara flag down an employee as she changes back into jeans and a sweatshirt in the stall.  
  
“Alex, your wife texted you,” Lucy calls out. Alex frowns as she steps back out, snatching up her phone; Lucy had taken to calling Maggie her wife simply because for some reason, her best friend had decided long ago that her main goal in life was to annoy Alex as much as possible.  
  
**_> Feel like going out for lunch with yours truly? _**  
  
“I’m so glad you’re talking to Maggie again!” Kara exclaims as Alex types out a reply. “At least _someone_ takes my advice and ignores your stubbornness.”  
  
Alex freezes. "What advice?"  
  
Her sister doesn’t answer.  
  
"Kara, when did you talk to her?"  
  
When Kara only mumbles something incoherent, Alex clenches her jaw. “What?”  
  
“I may have gone to her bakery as Supergirl!” she finally admits, her words coming out so fast that Alex doesn’t register them until a moment later. Her eyes widen.  
  
“You _what?”_ It’s not that she thinks Maggie would figure out it was Kara, but the fact that Supergirl ended up giving her advice about her friendship with Alex seems like it would be ridiculously obvious to someone as observant as her.   
  
“Oh Rao, I- I think I hear a bank robbery happening somewhere! I should- I have to go, come on Lena! Get the dress, Alex, I love you, bye!”  
  
“ _Kara Zor-El!”_  
  
  
  
Maggie’s waiting for her in front of Noonan’s when she gets dropped off by Lucy later, and it's after they grab their food and choose a table near the corner of the restaurant that Maggie seems to notice her slightly foul mood. “You seem exhausted. Training?”  
  
Alex shakes her head as she plays with the straw of her drink. “Kara took me dress shopping earlier.”  
  
“Oh? How was that?” Maggie asks between bites of food.  
  
“About as good as dress shopping with an overly-excited puppy can be.”  
  
“You took Gertrude into a bridal shop?”  
  
Alex grins at the genuine confusion in her friend's tone. “I was talking about Kara.”  
  
She hears Maggie laugh and the sound fills her chest with it’s usual fuzzy warmth, something she pointedly doesn't acknowledge as she chews her food. “I gotta say, that’s definitely an accurate description of your sister,” Maggie says before pausing. “But you love her.”  
  
Alex nods, playing with her food and pursing her lips. “She’s my whole world,” she finally confirms.  
  
And it's true. When Kara first came to live with them, Alex hadn’t taken too kindly to her. But after a while, she grew to adore her little sister. After her father’s “death,” not longer after, Eliza had completely shut down, leaving Alex to raise and protect Kara, despite her own grief. She taught her to control her powers, taught her how to defend herself, and most importantly taught her that being different wasn’t a bad thing - using her own blindness as an example.  
  
An incoming call startles both of them and jolts Alex from her thoughts as she goes to reach for her phone, before Maggie interrupts her with a, “No, it’s mine.”  
  
She waits patiently for a moment, before growing confused at Maggie’s sudden silence and the fact that she hasn’t made any move to take it yet, even as the first call ends and a second one starts up. Alex frowns, then realizes the baker probably feels rude for answering it with her sitting there. “Hey, you can take that, Maggie,” she assures her quickly. “It seems import-”  
  
“It’s not,” Maggie cuts her off sharply. Alex raises an eyebrow. “It’s just telemarketers or something.”  
  
Having been blind for fourteen years and needing to use her hearing more than a sighted person would have to, Alex can pick up on changes in tone of voice fairly well, and right now she can hear the slight waver in Maggie’s that tells her she’s lying. Why she’d lie about who’s calling her, Alex doesn’t know, but she also knows that if Maggie’s avoiding answering it, it must be someone unpleasant. So Alex changes the subject for her sake, talking about science instead and cracking a few biology puns here and there simply to make her laugh, and Alex’s heart feels about ready to explode whenever Maggie affectionately calls her _nerd_ and _dork_ more than once throughout the conversation, completely forgetting about the weird phone call.  
  
And when Maggie’s break is over and she eventually has to go back to work, she leaves with a “See you, Danvers,” and a tight hug that Alex pretends doesn’t leave her skin on fire through her coat and makes her want to pull Maggie closer.  
  
  
  
**◊** **  
** **  
**  
**  
** Maggie gets about two blocks away from Noonan’s when she finally thinks about the calls and checks her phone again.

Another missed call. Maggie stops in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring the irritated complaint of a man right behind her as he shoves past, her eyes glued to the screen. Pushing down the slight sense of panic already bubbling up in her chest, she wills herself to press  _call back_. It only lasts two rings and Maggie steels herself as the old but familiar voice crackles over the line. “Hello?”

Maggie inhales sharply. The last time she had heard that voice was when it was shouting at her to get out, to go to hell, that she didn't deserve to be happy. 

“Hey, Emily. You called?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the girl scout thing is a true story. They can be ruthless, guys.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm so sorry for the delay with this chapter! I have no other excuse than the fact that nothing I wrote satisfied me. Also, this is a short Maggie-centric chapter, and I really have no excuse for that either except that I just could NOT bring myself to write Alex's part. Writers block is a bitch.
> 
> Anyways.
> 
> Not quite sure this short a chapter was worth waiting a month for, but hey... it's something, right?
> 
> *Presses post while internally screaming*

Maggie taps her fingers against her thigh, checking her watch for the fourth time in five minutes. She shifts her eyes back up to the door, trying her best to ignore the growing anxiety coiling in her stomach as she waits for Emily to walk through. She hadn't known what exactly to expect upon receiving her ex’s calls, especially after almost five years of no contact from the other woman - understandably so, considering the fact that the way they had ended wasn't exactly an invitation to stay in touch.

She checks her watch again. 9:28 pm. Only two minutes since the last time she checked, and only two _more_ minutes until Emily is supposed to be here.

She’s ignored all of Alex’s texts for the past few hours - even the good luck text she received a few minutes ago - figuring pairing her anxiety about meeting her ex with the struggle of dealing with her confusion about her new friend wasn't something she was particularly fond of doing at the moment. When Maggie had brought up seeing Emily again, she had spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out why Alex looked like someone had just kicked Gertrude right in front of her, until finally chalking it up to worry - it's not like she'd be jealous, after all, and it would be foolish of her to think that was the case.

“Maggie, hey.”

She nearly gives herself whiplash when she hears the old but familiar voice above her, right before seeing the tall brunette ease herself down onto the barstool. “It’s really nice to see you,” Emily says.

It’s a lie and they both know it.

“Emily,” she greets back curtly, eyes trained on the golden liquid in her glass. She downs the rest of it without a second thought. “How are you?”

She watches as Emily flags down the bartender and orders a beer. “I’ve been good,” she answers once she’s gotten her drink. “I just got a new job offer.”

Maggie smiles - despite the awkwardness, she’s happy for her. “Oh, congratulations!”

“Yes, well. The job is in Gotham and I suppose I just wanted to talk to you before I left National City. About us, and how we ended. Or, more specifically, _why_ we ended.”

Her smile drops immediately. Right to the point, then.

“Look, Emily-”

“I know it’s been a few years, Maggie, but I need the closure.”

It makes sense, of course. Maggie had done a terrible thing and hadn't even given her a reason for it before they had broken up.

Shutting her eyes, Maggie takes a deep breath and opens them again to find Emily’s dark ones staring right at her. Her fingers curl around her empty glass, and she almost orders another before remembering she’s driving her bike home. “I was… a terrible person,” she admits honestly - there is no sugar coating it, especially not with someone like Emily. “And I made a horrible mistake, and everything you told me that night, about not deserving to be happy? You were right. I’m sorry for everything, for putting you through all that.”

She avoids Emily’s eyes the entire time - the other woman has always had a powerful gaze, something that came with the professionalism of being a businesswoman, Maggie supposes - and barely even takes a breath until she’s finished apologizing.

Emily stays quiet for a moment, and just when Maggie thinks she’s not going to answer at all, she speaks up. “I waited a long time. To heal, I mean. It took years for me to finally realize it wasn't my fault, to realize I _was_ good enough. To forgive you, even - I’ve forgiven you, Maggie, I just- I needed to hear this from you.”

Maggie doesn't really know what to say to that.

She ends up ordering another drink even though she’s supposed to be driving home, because the entire situation only makes her feel worse, only reminds her of why long lasting, committed relationships never work out for her, only makes her relive the guilt of cheating in spite of being forgiven. If anything, the whole thing is anticlimactic at best; something that’s probably lifted 5 years worth of weight from Emily’s shoulders has only added more onto Maggie’s. She doesn't let it show though, instead plastering on a fake smile and pretending to be as relieved as Emily looks.

“I’m glad we could have this closure,” her ex admits, taking a sip from her glass. “What do you say we catch up a bit? How's your business going?”

Maggie gives her a shrug. “It’s pretty good.”

Emily cocks an eyebrow at her, leaning forward a bit as if the next thing she says is to be kept a secret. “I hear you’re baking a wedding cake for Lena Luthor.”

“I am,” Maggie replies slowly. Emily sits back in her seat, finger tracing the rim of her glass as she seems to think about what to say next. Maggie looks away. “It’s not a big a deal. We have a mutual friend.”  
  
At that, Emily raises her eyebrows. “A mutual friend?” she asks in a teasing manner. Maggie chews on the inside of her cheek.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“The look on your face tells me this mutual friend isn’t just a friend.”  
  
Maggie glowers down at her lap, feeling scrutinized and annoyed at the change in topic of conversation. “No, she’s… She’s a friend,” she answers tightly, not really wanting to discuss Alex with an ex that she cheated on - especially if said ex is only going to pull a M’gann and mistake their relationship to be anything more than platonic. It’s bad enough that Maggie has to sit here with her, but talking about _Alex_ with her is a whole other thing. She clears her throat awkwardly, forcing the conversation elsewhere.  
  
“How about a game of pool?” she suggests, already grabbing her drink and making a beeline for the pool tables before Emily can respond.

It's not the same, hanging out at the bar with Emily. As much as Maggie wills herself to stop thinking about Alex, her mind doesn't get the message, repeatedly dragging the redhead back in. Talking to Emily again now only makes her compare the two - where Alex is teasing and sarcastic, Emily is uptight and formal. Where Alex is a charming, rambling nerd that Maggie can’t help but smile at, Emily is curt and dry and doesn’t have much of a sense of humor.

Where Alex is comfortable, Emily is foreign.

Maggie wonders whether or not it should scare her, how fast Alex has become a comfort to her.

It does.

It’s only an hour later, when they’re standing outside in the cold while Emily hails a cab, that she says something that Maggie can’t help but be surprised at: “I was wrong back then, when I shouted those things at you during our breakup. You deserve to be happy just as much as everyone else. I hope you know that, Maggie.”

Maggie doesn't have the heart to tell her that she doesn’t before Emily ducks inside the cab and shuts the door.

She only checks her phone a few minutes later as she’s crawling into her own cab - having left her bike with M’gann after having four more drinks than she promised herself she’d have - to see that she has five missed texts from Alex from two hours ago, all sent within the span of five minutes. Thinking back to what Emily had said, Maggie almost doesn’t want to bother reading them, but her thumb works on it’s own accord, pressing her contact name and opening up the waiting messages.  
  
**_> Just to let you know: no matter how bad you think your night with your ex is going, mine is much, much worse._ ** ****  
****  
**_> As in, Kara’s forcing me to watch Keeping up with the Kardashians again._ ** ****  
****  
**_> Really, it shouldn’t even be legal to be this stupid._ ** ****  
****  
**_> Kara hid all the alcohol. I’m not going to get through this, Sawyer._ ** ****  
****  
**_> And to think we figured you’d be the one needing a fake emergency tonight._ ** ****  
****  
She can’t stop the drunken laugh from bubbling up in her chest, resting her head against the icy window of the cab as she types out a response.  
  
**_< Sounds like you had a lot of fun, Danvers._ ** ****  
****  
It’s almost midnight, so Maggie doesn’t really expect a reply from her, but three minutes later her phone goes off and Alex’s name appears on the screen anyways.  
  
**_> It would’ve been better if you were there. _ ** ****  
****  
Maggie’s heart skips a beat as she reads and then rereads Alex’s message just as the cab pulls up in front of her apartment. She pays the driver with a respectful nod and an only slightly slurred, “Have a good night,” as she gets out of the car, still staring at her phone.  
  
The tiredness in her bones gradually make way for frustration as she frowns down at her screen, thumbs hovering uselessly above the keyboard as if she even knew what to type out. _It would’ve been better if you were there._ What does that even mean? Is Alex flirting? She didn’t know Alex even _knew_ how to flirt, considering all the times she’s seen her blush hard and stammer whenever Maggie’s made an inappropriate joke or flirted herself.  
  
Holding back a groan, Maggie shoves her way into her apartment and unsteadily kicks her shoes off.  
  
She ends up only sending back a simple, **_I bet._  
**   
Really, she's not getting paid enough for this.   
  
Alex Danvers is a mystery to her, and Maggie doesn't bother waiting for a reply before crawling into bed with her clothes still on, falling asleep almost right as her head hits the pillows.  
  
  
  
“Actinium!”  
  
Maggie startles at the sudden outburst, a cannoli slipping from her fingers and landing on the floor before her feet with a disappointing _thump_ . She frowns, staring glumly down at it before glancing over to where Alex is lounging in the corner of her bakery with Gertrude, a proud expression on her face.  
  
“You made me drop a cannoli,” she grumbles, pretending to be annoyed. Alex shoots her a sheepish look.

“Sorry, I was trying to remember what came after Lutetium on the periodic table.”  
  
Maggie blinks. Alex _had_ been sitting there with a concentrated look on her face for the past five minutes, and she had made a note to ask her why after she finished putting everything in their respectable display cases. “Was that what you were thinking about this entire time?” she asks, amusement and adoration evident in her voice. Alex blushes, ducking her head down.  
  
“It's just something I do when I’m bored,” she mutters quietly, letting out a nervous sounding laugh.    
  
Maggie arches a playful eyebrow. “Oh, so I’m boring you now, am I?”  
  
She smirks as Alex rushes to clarify, cheeks growing even redder and eyes widening. “No! That's not what I meant at all, Maggie, I-”  
  
“Relax, Danvers, I’m messing with you. So, you think about the elements in your free time, huh?” she teases, stripping off her disposable gloves and leaning her elbows against the counter.  
  
Alex chuckles, looking kind of embarrassed as she says, “Uh… Yeah. Like I said before, science is kinda my thing.”  
  
Maggie tries not to think about just how adorable she finds that, instead shaking her head and smiling to herself. “Nerd,” she chuckles, more to herself than Alex.  
  
They grow silent after that, Maggie busying herself with wiping down the tables as Alex seems to rattle off more elements in her head, the only sound coming from Maggie’s spray bottle and the occasional soft yip from a sleeping Gertrude at Alex’s feet. It’s not until she finishes cleaning that she notices the way Alex is petting the retriever, stroking behind her ear in the way that tells Maggie she’s anxious - she had noticed that about Alex from the first week they started hanging out more, and it’s only become more prevalent from then on.  
  
(She’s noticed a lot of things about Alex, mostly because she can’t stop watching the other woman. It’s ridiculous, really, just how much Maggie can’t keep her eyes off her.)

“You okay, Danvers?” she questions, plopping down into the seat across from her.  
  
Alex’s hand ceases its movement on Gertrude’s head, eyebrows knitting together. “Yeah, yeah,” she breathes, dismissing Maggie with a wave of her hand. Maggie watches as she hastily feels her watch, jabbing a thumb at the door. “I should get going. It's sister night and I promised Kara I’d pick up the potstickers tonight. I don't want to be late again,” she explains.

Maggie tilts her head. Somehow, she knows Alex is lying, but if the redhead doesn’t want to tell her about it, she isn’t going to force it out of her. “Right, of course not. See you tomorrow?”

When Alex smiles at her, Maggie notices that it doesn't quite reach her eyes. “Yeah, of course. See you tomorrow, Mags.”

She tries not to feel too disappointed that Alex is leaving, tries not to wish that the redhead would stay just a little bit longer.

Tries not to melt into the goodbye hug as much as she desperately wants to, tries not to cling a bit to Alex’s coat right before forcing herself to let go before she notices.

Tries to pretend that seeing Alex walk away, even with the promise of seeing her the next day, doesn't make her heart ache in her chest in the worst way possible.

But as she watches Alex and Gertrude disappear behind the building across from her, M’gann and Emily’s words linger in the back of her mind. If anything, seeing her ex only solidified the idea, showed her how much she enjoys being in Alex’s presence.  
  
She can't really find it in her to deny it anymore.  
  
She _likes_ Alex.  
  
Maggie leans against the counter, squeezing her eyes shut and blowing out a breath.  
  
_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the wait guys. Hooray for Maggie getting her shit together.


End file.
